


Don't Call Me "Flightless"

by Flightless_Wings



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Character Death, Death, F/F, I really just love all my children, I'm Sorry, Kidnapping, M/M, Magical Creatures, Minor Character Death, Minor Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Please Don't Kill Me, Psychological Torture, Tags Are Hard, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags May Change, Torture, creature AU, for you and them, there's werewolves and Valkyries and demons so, things are happy.... for now, whatever you wanna call it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-07-11 19:52:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 39,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7067713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flightless_Wings/pseuds/Flightless_Wings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinata Shoyo is what you'd call "flightless"--what with his lack of wings and all--and being a Valkyrie, well that has made life a little difficult for him. Still, he hasn't given up hope that one day he'll not only earn his wings, but find the legendary Little Giant as well. For now, school will have to occupy his time. School of the Archne, where creatures of all kinds get together? What could possibly go wrong!</p><p>-or-</p><p>Hinata is a sad little birb without wings and he just needs some friends okay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> I will be adding to the tags as we go, careful for spoilers! Lots of characters are going to be a bit more minor than in my last chapter fic but trust me you'll see everyone on the list at least twice.

Hinata took a deep breath and looked up at the huge doors. He supposed the half giants needed room too, but this was ridiculous... Maybe the pounding in his heart wasn’t just due to the first day of school, but that was the majority. Hinata Shouyo  _ should  _ have gotten his wings by now, but here he was, staring at the ground and silently asking it to swallow him whole before he finally accepted he had to go inside. 

There was a part of him that wished he’d gotten his wings early on like his sister Natsu, but at the same time he probably wouldn’t have been as motivated as he was now. There was this one valkyrie story he’d heard growing up--the “Little Giant”--who didn’t earn his wings until he died for someone else, making him one of the most legendary valkyries of all time. He came back, of course, but now he’d disappeared. As soon as he could, Hinata wanted to get handed the mission to find him. So far, every creature who’d tried it had failed or just never returned, most likely because of the humans. 

This was the only thing that prompted Hinata to finally walk through the doors to his new school. Fuseneka, School of the Arcane was a high end school Hinata almost never would have even dreamed of getting into if it weren’t for the Little Giant. If he could come here, maybe the school could give Hinata the chance to earn his wings too. 

The school was bustling inside and Hinata almost froze again. The doors had kept out nearly all the sounds that now flooded over him. Harpies cawed as the flew over him and he grumbled something about their wings, glancing up to be sure they couldn’t hear him.

He made his way towards the main chamber, luckily on the first floor of the school and ran into someone along the way. As he looked up, a bored looking blonde boy stared down at him with raised eyebrows.

“Newbie?” He asked simply. Hinata just nodded. “Figures.” He said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and brushed past him. Next to him, a timid looking brunette floated by, giving Hinata a small smile. Hinata didn’t notice much as he was staring at the large black wings that sprouted from his back.

“Whoa...” He said watching them leave. Once they melded into the crowd, Hinata resumed his course and showed up to the main office. There were a few more people in there so he took a seat next to a boy who looked even shorter than he was and had to resist the urge to smile. He looked up and smiled at the newcomer.

“I’m Nishinoya Yuu, but you can call me Senpai!” He said, beaming. 

Hinata fought back a laugh again. “You’re older than me?!” 

In a flash, the other boy shimmered between his normal form and a smaller, winged form called an imp.  _ Alright, did everyone have to have wings around here, come on! _ He said to himself. 

When he settled back into a humanoid form, he frowned. “Yes, I will have you know I  _ am  _ older than you, first year!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Hinata put his hands up. “I just.. Umm”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Nishinoya waved his hand dismissively. “The point is, I am your senpai, what do you need?”

Hinata reached into his backpack and pulled out the letter he was supposed to give to someone named Ukai here at the school. “I just have to deliver this to-”

His sentence was cut off when Noya jumped to his feet, nearly knocking over a pixie fluttering past. She shouted something obscene, but he didn’t seem to care; his eyes were locked on the seal covering the opening of the envelop. “You- You’re-” He stuttered and Hinata sighed.

“Yeah.” He looked down sheepishly. “I’m  _ that  _ Hinata. My name is Shouyo.”

Noya noticed the look on his face and bumped his shoulder. “You mean like the Little Giant, huh?”

Hinata smiled. “Yes! I’m going to be just like him and as soon as I get my wings, I’m going to find him!” He said, clenching his fist in excitement.

Nishinoya smiled and ruffled his hair. “You bet. I’ll go get Ukai, you probably need him for that, right?”

He left as Hinata nodded and came back following a man with blonde hair pulled back off his face. A tail swung out behind the man and Noya tried his best to avoid stepping on it. With just a glance at the envelop, he beckoned Hinata to come with him into his office. With just the three of them, Ukai shut the door and sat down.

“So you’re Hinata Shouyo.” He said without any hint of pity or condescending tone in his voice. 

“Yes, I really want to go to your school, please!” He said, bowing his hand and narrowly missing slamming it into the desk in front of him. 

After reading through the letter. Ukai handed it to Noya. The smaller switched into his Imp form, shredding the paper in his claws beyond repair.

“Hey!”

“You can start immediately, however-” Ukai leaned forward and pointed to Hinata “there are rules you need to follow. If you don’t you’re gonna die and well I’d rather not do the paperwork for all that.”

Hinata nodded to show he understood.

“First-” Ukai said holding up one finger- “you are the newest of all the new kids, so don’t even try to pick any fights, especially since you don’t even have your wings yet. Second-” he held up another finger- “should you choose to pick a fight, you are allowed one person around you to call on. We don’t do one on one fights outside of classes, got it?” Hinata felt confused, but nodded like he knew what was going on.

“Third, don’t mess with the vampires. I’m not kidding when I say they will tear you apart. And fourth, don’t let anyone know you don’t have your wings. Most of them, like Noya, will have heard already. But for those who don’t care much about what goes on outside their own lives-”

Here Noya cleared his throat and coughed out a few names like “Tsukishima” and “Kageyama”, putting him on the receiving end of a mean glare. He looked away quickly and scratched the back of his head.

“For those students who don’t know, it will be best for you to make sure it stays that way.” He finished. Hinata had been staring at the four fingers Ukai held up until now, shaking himself out of a bit of a daze. Really, all he cared about was that he was in.

“Come on, shorty, let’s take you to your classes!” Noya said, pulling him to his feet. Hinata decided now was not the time to remind him he was taller and let the brunette pull him forward. 

  
  


Due to talking with Ukai, Hinata walked into his first class a little late. The teacher, Takeda-sensei as he introduced himself, told him to pick any seat. A glance around the room told him that was hardly a real option. In the back was a scary looking Troll who’d fallen asleep already, in the row in front of him was a boy with curly hair and an arrow across his back- a Cupid, why not. Hinata almost wanted to ask why he’d gotten to keep his arrow, but decided against it.

The rest of the room didn’t seem to offer up any better spots until he saw a girl with blonde hair right up front, a seat open next to her. She was scribbling down what Takeda-sensei was saying and didn’t look up as Hinata sat down. Through her short blonde hair hanging around her face and paper, he saw her name was Yachi Hitoka, written neatly across her scroll. 

Much too loudly, Hinata got out his own supplies and wrote down what little he felt was important in the first day lecture. Yachi next to him hardly stopped moving her hand the entire class, making him wonder if he should be sitting next to her; she’d probably make him look like a complete idiot. 

Once class was over, as Yachi was shoving her things into her bag, Hinata cleared his throat and smiled. “Hi, I’m Hinata.”

Yachi looked up almost hesitantly and smiled at seeing he wasn’t someone scary or at all intimidating. “Yachi.” She said standing.

He was pleased to see she too was shorter. “I have Anatomy next.” He said looking down at the scroll Noya had shoved into his hands before class.

“So do I!” She said showing him her own schedule. The two of them walked together, watching for the signs along the doors. Right before the room labeled “Anatomy” above it, Yachi stopped in her tracks. 

Hinata was almost to the door before he looked back and noticed she had stopped, obviously concentrating hard on something. He shook his hand in her face. “Yachi? You okay?”

She shook her head and her face squeezed up. Suddenly, a little noise burst out of her and she quickly changed shape into a slightly smaller fairy with delicate wings.  _ Again? _ He asked himself. He realized it had been a sneeze that caused her to change form and let out a small laugh. 

Once her wings had disappeared and her feet touched back on the ground, they noticed that during her transformation, her school bag and dropped and scattered a few of her things. Picking them up made them both late, but Hinata was still smiling at how utterly  _ adorable  _ that had been. She reminded him a lot of his sister Natsu. 

They were dismayed to see a lot of the seats taken again. The only open ones were next to a brunette with freckles and familiar wings taking up quite a bit of space. The entire class turned as they walked in and the boy he’d seen before tried to flatten his wings down and out of the way for them. On his other side sat the blond from earlier, still looking rather bored. 

The friendlier of the two introduced himself as Yamaguchi Tadashi and his friend Tsukishima Kei. Hinata remembered Noya saying something about a Tsukishima earlier but the blond seemed content to ignore them so he did the same. Yachi went back to taking notes as soon as her paper was out, leaving Hinata in the dust once again. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima wrote a lot more than he did too, but he tried not to think about that. His first day was too stimulating for something as boring as notes on the anatomy of giants. 

During their break later that day, Yachi and Hinata maneuvered their way towards the cafeteria. They hadn’t even made it inside before he literally ran into someone again. This time he looked up to see a pale brunet with sharp eyes and a mischievous smile. 

“Aww, did you wander into this school by mistake, little one?” He asked, peering down at the valkyrie. 

Hinata jumped to his feet and got as close to the other student’s face as he could. “Hey, that was just as much your fault as it was mine!”

He scoffed and there was a flicker of color in his eyes. “Feisty little one?”

“What, do you want to fight?”

Suddenly, the entire area went silent. All eyes were on the pair of them now as Hinata slowly started to realize that his stupid catchphrase may have just landed him in some huge trouble. 

The other smiled and crossed his arms. “As a matter of fact-”

“Oikawa.” A voice said. Behind him came another student, this one with darker skin that made Oikawa’s look especially bright as he laid a hand on the taller one’s pale shoulder.

“But Iwa-chan. He asked me, I can’t help it now can I?” He brushed Iwaizumi’s hand off his shoulder and turned his attention back to Hinata. “You get to pick your partner first.”

Hinata’s mind was reeling. There was no way in Folkvang he’d win in a fight against this guy, not without his wings. He scanned the room for someone he’d want to back him up, spying Yachi and not even pretending to entertain the idea of picked a fairy to go against this guy. Then he got an idea. 

He pointed to the so called Iwa-chan. “I pick you. Iwa-chan.”

Oikawa’s smile finally slipped off his face, replaced at first with a look of disbelief then with a deep scowl. Iwaizumi had no choice but to stand beside Hinata facing his friend. 

“It’s Iwaizumi by the way.”

“But he-”

“Iwaizumi.” He said with a hard glare down at him, effectively shutting him up.

Oikawa straightened up and said “Kageyama.”

From the crowd came a grumbling fourth addition to their fight, a boy with dark black hair and similar pale skin. He might have just been slow on the uptake today, but suddenly Hinata realized that Oikawa was a vampire and if that was true, so was this Kageyama. His first day was going so great....


	2. School is Great... Note the Sarcasm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “But I got out alive, didn’t I?”
> 
> “Detention hasn’t happened yet...”
> 
> “What’s the worst that could happen?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love my litte Hinata XD

Hinata was slowly accepting that he was going to die when a flash of light made everyone shut their eyes tightly. When they opened them again, a slightly shimmering figure stood between them. Hinata recognized him as his first teacher, Takeda, but now he had little flickering flames dancing between his fingers- a phoenix.

“Detentions on the first day of school? You’re setting up your last year to be a ricky one, Tooru and Hajime.” He said looking at Oikawa and Iwaizumi.

Hinata groaned. So not only had he picked a fight with a  _ vampire  _ but that vampire was  _ Oikawa Tooru _ ?  _ And  _ he was getting detention? Wonderful. That made Kageyama  _ the  _ Kageyama Tobio. He just had the best luck, he should have been born a leprechaun instead.

Takeda sensei handed the four of them pieces of paper while Hinata contemplated how he’d managed to screw up so quickly. “All four of you can join me today after school.”

Oikawa and Iwaizumi nodded and quickly left as Takeda disappeared again. Kageyama was glaring at Hinata now that there was no one else to occupy his attention.

“You dumbass, now I’m in trouble too!” He yelled.

Hinata took up a defensive stance in case Kageyama charged at him. “That wasn’t my fault! He’s the one who brought you into this, blame Oikawa!”

“You’re the idiot who picked the fight!”

“That wasn’t really-”

“And picked Iwaizumi to fight against him! You are the stupidest creature alive if you think that’s going to be taken lightly by either of them.” Kageyama glared then turned on his heel, pushing his way down the hall.

Hinata stammered out a lame reply, but he was already out of earshot. Yachi timidly stepped up next to him again. “Were you really going to fight him?”

“No! It was a gut reaction... I do that a lot...” He grumbled, shoving the detention slip into his pocket and finding a spot in line for food. “Stupid vampires.”

“Don’t say that out loud!” Yachi whispered, looking around wildly and ducking her head.

He thought she might  _ poof  _ back into a fairy, but she held herself together. “I’m not afraid of those three.”

“Oh Iwaizumi isn’t a vampire.”

“Oh... well that would explain the lack of pale skin then.”

Yachi rolled her eyes like she was trying to explain a simple concept to a toddler. “He’s a siren. As in if he wants you do so something, he can pretty much get you to do it. He’s best friends with Oikawa, the soon-to-be head of the largest clan of purebred vampires in on this continent and you just had to pick a fight between the two of them.”

“But I got out alive, didn’t I?”

“Detention hasn’t happened yet...”

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

 

Apparently, the worst that could happen was a fight. Hinata sort of started it, but really it was Oikawa’s fault for throwing the first punch. Sorta.

The four boys sat in a classroom staring at the wall and pretending to do homework. Kageyama looked like he was about to fall asleep and Hinata felt the same way. Oikawa kicked his feet up on Hinata’s desk and leaned back with his eyes shut.

“You know, Chibi-chan-”

“It’s Hinata, actually.”

“Whatever.” He waved his hand dismissively. “You know if we had fought, I would have completely destroyed you, right?” When he opened his eyes, they flickered between a bright, blood red and a still frightening brown, like jagged cliffs that spelled out a quick but painful death.

Hinata shivered slightly but tried to brush it off. “Why, because you’re some high and mighty prince or whatever? Well I’m sorry Your Majesty, but I’m not-”

“He hasn’t got the title yet.” Kageyama spoke up for the first time since they’d arrived. “I have just as much of a claim to it as he does.”

Oikawa’s eyes hardened. “Don’t be silly Tobio-chan. Everyone knows it’s going to me no matter what your parents told you while we were growing up. I’m the oldest and that means when it comes down to it, I will beat you.”

“You can try.” He said, laying his head back down on his desk.

Iwaizumi put his hand on Oikawa's shoulder as he started to move forward, restraining him from attacking the black haired boy. “Don’t. I’m not pulling your ass out of a fight.”

“Speaking of fights-” he said, suddenly forgetting all about Kageyama or Hinata- “I could have totally beat you and Chibi-Chan, even without Kageyama.”

Iwaizumi snorted. “Sure you could have.”

“We’ve fought before, I always win.”

“You mean I let you win.”

Oikawa drew a sharp gasp and looked incredibly offended. “I thought you were supposed to be my friend, Iwa-chan!”

“I thought vampires were supposed to be more composed.” Hinata mumbled. 

Oikawa turned back to him sharply, smirking. “I thought Valkyries were supposed to have wings.”

Hinata’s body reacted before he really knew what was going on. Oikawa’s feet fell to the ground as he jumped out of his chair, grabbing Oikawa’s shirt collar and pulling back his other arm. He brought it forward only to feel himself be lifted off the ground and pulled away from the brunet. 

Kageyama had his arms locked around Hinata’s torso and he knew it was useless to struggle against him, but he did anyways. Iwaizumi pulled Oikawa out of his seat and off to the other side of the room just as Kageyama had done. 

“We are  _ not  _ getting another detention, dumbass.” Kageyama growled as Hinata finally stopped struggling. 

Hinata didn’t reply and shook off Kageyama’s arms, plopping himself down in a seat in the front of the classroom as far from Oikawa as he could get. Iwaizumi shoved him down into a seat too, glaring at him from where he stood. 

“Really going to make your family proud picking on a literally defenseless Valkyrie, idiot.”

Oikawa put his chin on his hand and looked at anywhere but Iwaizumi. “I’d like to see anyone care about it.”

Before he could hit him, Oikawa’s arm shot up to deflect his friend’s blow. “I really could beat you, Hajime.” He said quietly. 

“Why don’t we test that confidence then.  _ Your majesty _ .”

He moved back a few steps as Oikawa stood and turned an icy glare to him. “If I break you, Iwa-chan, you don’t get to hate me. You’re the one who asked, after all.”

“That’s if you break me.”

Kageyama sighed and sat next to Hinata. “Cover the back of your head and whatever you do, don’t look back.”

“What do you-” Before Hinata could finish his question, there was a large crash behind them and of course he turned to look. A hole was gaping from the wall behind Oikawa as Iwaizumi lunged to punch him. Of course the vampire had danced out of the way, now finding himself behind Iwaizumi. 

Kageyama pulled Hinata’s attention away again, forcing his head forward. “I’m not kidding, they’re going to make a mess of things and I will not go down with them again.”

Hinata resisted every urge in his body to look back. It got even worse when it sounded like a door being ripped off its hinges; he wasn’t even sure who he wanted to win, but he was leaning more towards Iwaizumi at this point. He hoped the crack hadn’t been Oikawa’s defining hit and almost sighed when he heard a desk snap in half, probably under one of their bodies. 

There was a flash of white light and Hinata knew Takeda-sensei had shown up again, though it was Ukai who spoke first. “I will not be paying for the upkeep of this school because you two feel the need to continue proving who is a better fighter!” 

Hinata stole a glance back to see Ukai’s face change to that of a lion as he literally roared at the two of them. A manticore  _ and  _ a phoenix were needed to break up the two. A shiver ran down his spine again as he wondered what that may have meant for him had their fight really gone into action. 

“Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyo.” Takeda said. “You are excused, please leave quickly.”

Hinata almost tripped over his own feet hurrying out the door to get away from whatever they were going to do to Iwaizumi and Oikawa. Behind him, Kageyama kept a leisurely pace, nearly unfazed by the fact that they had almost died in that classroom.

“How do you even know that Oikawa?” He asked once Kageyama had caught up to him. 

“I’m a vampire you idiot, how do you think?”

“That’s not what I meant! Cleary you’re a vampire, but are you like from the same family or-”

“He’s my cousin.” He said curtly, trying to convey the fact he didn’t want to elaborate.

Hinata didn’t seem to care much what he wanted. “Your cousin! That’s what you were talking about, you could be Mister Head Vampire one day?”

“Can we not.”

“Why not? That’s amazing! Like someday you could be like the kin-”

“Don’t.” He said, rounding on the little valkyrie, his eyes burning red. Hinata yelped; this was too many close encounters with death for the first day of school. “Don’t you dare call me that.” His eyes slowly faded back to the deep blue they were before. Hinata became increasingly aware that Kageyama’s eyes were a nice shade of blue and that his face was a little too close to his own.

They resumed their walk out to the main courtyard once Kageyama felt he’d put enough fear into Hinata’s mind.


	3. Dumbass-Hinata

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yachi looped her arm through Hinata’s as he turned bright red and dragged him out of the room. “You’re an idiot.”
> 
> “How was I supposed to know!”
> 
> “You think a Fallen Angel and a basilisk are friends often? How far underground have you been since you showed up here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah my children *-*

For some reason after that, Hinata started noticing Kageyama more, even in a few classes where the dark haired vampire had previously blended into the background. Yachi seemed to notice his noticing of Kageyama as well because one day after their first class, she finally mentioned him, nearly a week after that shared detention.

“So... Kageyama-kun huh?” She said casually as they walked through the halls. 

“Yeah, freaking vampires.” Hinata quickly scoffed. 

Yachi smiled and almost giggled. “You really think so?” He looked sideways at her and raised his eyebrow. “Well, you just seem to always... be aware of where he is.” She continued.

Hinata shook his head. “No.”

“But-”

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, don’t even say anything, I know what you’re thinking and you’re dead wrong.” He insisted.

Yachi smiled again. “Hinata...”

“Don’t you dare, Yachi Hitoka, I will make you turn into a Fairy again.” 

Yachi frowned, thinking back to how Hinata figured out if he poked a certain spot on her shoulder, her wings would pop and and there she goes into full fairy mode. “Fine. However, you know that inter species relationships are totally allowed in the main cities.”

“I’m so not talking about this with you right now.”

“Is the little flightless bird attempting to get a date?” Someone asked behind them.

Hinata groaned loudly and dramatically as he turned around and spotted Tsukishima and Yamaguchi coming up behind them. “Thanks a lot.”

Yachi put her hands up in mock surrender and pulled Hinata towards the classroom. “Alright alright, don’t take it out on another fight.”

Throughout their class, Tsukishima made it his mission to somehow get little messages to Hinata, some from him some apparently from Yamaguchi though they were a few rows apart. At one point, Hinata noticed a green scaled tail sneaking between the desks and Yachi confirmed his fear that he was a basilisk.

As soon as the bell rang, Hinata slapped down all the little scraps of paper onto Tsukishima’s desk, standing in the way so he couldn’t get up. “Are you quite finished? I’m not telling you who we were talking about! And I don’t even like him!”

“Told you it was a him.” Yamaguchi said rising to his feet.

“Stay out of this!”

Yachi sighed. “Hinata-”

“Don’t worry about it.” Tsukishima glanced up through his glasses and flashed his eyes between their normal brown and bright yellow with reptilian pupils. If it weren’t for the glass, Hinata would have been paralyzed in his spot. “I think I have a pretty good idea anyways.”

The valkyrie turned to Yamaguchi to avoid showing any hint of fear or alarm from Tsukishima. “You know he has a major crush on you too, right?” 

They both just laughed as Tsukishima took the opportunity to stand up, pushing Hinata out of the way. Yamaguchi reached between them and laced his fingers with Tsukishima’s “I’d sure hope so, he is my boyfriend.”

Yachi looped her arm through Hinata’s as he turned bright red and dragged him out of the room. “You’re an idiot.”

“How was I supposed to know!” 

“You think a Fallen Angel and a basilisk are friends often? How far underground have you been since you showed up here?”

The irony hit Hinata like a ton of bricks. Basilisk- snake. Fallen angel- bird. Snake and a bird? Oh yeah that happened all the time.

“Makes sense why he hates you though.” She admitted.

“Well I hate him too!”

“Cuz he made you look like an idiot?”

“Because  _ he’s  _ an idiot!” Yachi just rolled her eyes and parted ways to go off to her next class. Hinata didn’t have to worry about any of the three of them messing with him this class, but he had something almost worse.

As he walked in, almost late because of his argument with Tsukishima, he almost walked back out to wait in the hall until class was over. The teacher had seen him already though so he settled for a heavy sigh and trudged over to the only open seat.

Kageyama looked up as he plopped down and seemed surprised to see him. They hadn’t spoken since Hinata had nearly called him a king so neither one was ready to change that just yet. Of course, with Hinata’s going luck, this was the day they were supposed to pair up for a stupid project. And of course he and Kageyama found themselves without partners. 

“Great.” He sighed, under his breath. 

“Hey, I didn’t ask you to sit here, dumbass.” Kageyama grumbled.

“How did you-”

“Heightened senses, obviously. I’m a vampire.”

Hinata felt like he needed to put aside time later today just to go over things to make sure he didn’t miss something again. “Well, whatever.”

Kageyama looked tired as their teacher passed around the supplies and he lazily reached out to begin.

“You’re tired, huh?”

“You’re perceptive.”

“Hey, I’m just asking, you don’t need to be an ass.” 

Kageyama looked at him like he was going to say something but decided against it and shook his head instead. “You need to help me out.”

“That’s what partners do, isn’t it?” They spent most of the time focused in on their project, only to realise as everyone was leaving that they’d done it almost completely wrong. 

“Fuck.” Kageyama swore under his breath.

Hinata had an idea but he hated it almost as much as just failing the project. “We could... work on it... after school?”

He seemed to love the idea just as much as Hinata did. “We can’t go to my house.” He said simply.

“I didn’t say at our houses!”

“You’d rather go out to some public place?”

Hinata realized if Yachi found out about either option, she’d have far too much fun with the idea. “Fine, we can go to my house...” He said hesitantly.

Kageyama raised his eyebrow but Hinata walked away, leaving Kageyama to hold what little of their project they had to work off of.

 

After school, Kageyama waited around by the main entrance for him and as soon as he saw his bright orange hair, stood and waved him over. Hinata sighed as Yachi saw Kageyama trying to get his attention and pretended not to see a smile spread across her face.

“One word of this in front of Tsukishima or Yamaguchi and I’ll turn you into a fairy in the middle of class.” He promised. 

Yachi smiled at him innocently and skipped off in the opposite direction. 

“I wasn’t sure you’d come out this way.” Kageyama said, shifting his bag to his shoulder.

Hinata didn’t stick around for the small talk and instead started down the main path which wound through a bit of forest before opening to the town again. Kageyama kept up with him easily even when Hinata tried to walk quicker, never saying a thing, but not exactly making him uncomfortable either. 

When they reached Hinata’s house, he didn’t bother calling out a hello to either of his parents, but he did stop by a room on the way to his own and poking his head inside. “Hey Natsu, I’m home.” 

A little girl’s voice said something inside, but Kageyama pretended not to hear. She hugged Hinata around the waist and peered past, spotting him in the hallway. 

“Who’s that?” She whispered quite loudly. On her back, a pair of bronze colored wings shuffled slightly. 

Kageyama stepped back as he realized Hinata was indeed wingless. He hadn’t paid much attention to Oikawa before, sure that Hinata had found a way to conceal his wings and that Hinata was just sensitive about them but now... his little sister had surely had her wings for at least a year by the looks of them and they were as un-hideable as a fallen angel’s. 

“This is Kageyama. He’s-”

“A vampire.” She finished pointing to his lack of reflection in the mirror behind him. 

“Kageyama, this is Natsu.” 

Natsu stuck out her small hand for him to shake which he did, letting a small smile slide onto his face. “Hi Natsu.”

“Onii-chan, you are home early today!” She said turned back to Hinata.

He looked startled by her observation and scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, I guess it usually takes me a bit longer to walk here. Oh well, we have a project to do so we’re going to be in my room if you need me.” He said, beckoning Kageyama to follow him down the hall more. 

Kageyama glanced around the boy’s room. A small bed- he had to stop himself from pointing out how  _ short  _ it was- was against the wall opposite the door with a few pictures tacked up around it. Mostly, they featured Natsu and a few other friends, but none of them had anyone who would have passed as their parents. On the other wall was a picture that really caught his attention.

“The Little Giant.” He said, walking over to it. The picture depicted a sketch of wings on the back of a boy with dark hair; that was the poster that was everywhere when he’d first disappeared. 

“Yeah. He’s kind of...”

“I get it.” Kageyama looked sideways at Hinata who stood next to him. “You can relate.”

Hinata just nodded and plopped himself down on the floor. “Let’s get started then.”


	4. Just Pretend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as Hinata was about to leave Yachi to fend for herself, he spotted Iwaizumi and Oikawa coming up and they’d spotted him too. “Oh fantastic.” He groaned.
> 
> Oikawa smiled and pushed his way up to Hinata. “Chibi-chan! We meet again!”
> 
> “Too soon, Your Majesty.”

They ended up getting a passing grade on the project the next day. Kageyama didn’t object to Hinata picking the seat next to him, and Yachi had been asking questions almost nonstop. He quickly saw a chance to get back at her as they left school that day. A pretty, older student that Hinata had only seen in passing was standing out in front of the school, talking to a few people who stopped to ask her about the sign she was holding. Apparently, she was a part of some club and they’d picked her to recruit. 

It was clearly working. 

Nishinoya and another boy stood on either side of her, making sure no one got particularly close to the girl. At one point, the other student turned into a troll that almost made Hinata jump backwards. Yachi had her eyes trained on the girl nearly the whole walk from the front of the school to the beginning of the path. 

Hinata grabbed her by the arm and marched over to the crowd around them. As he did, the girl glanced over at them and smiled brightly. She seemed to noticed how Yachi seized up and and stifled a giggle. Once they were close enough to read the sign, they realized the three of them were trying to raise money to get a pool built on campus.

“What’s the pool for?” Hinata asked.

Kiyoko leaned in to talk over everyone else. “Some of us aren’t normally  _ land  _ creatures.”

“If Kiyoko-san can’t have a pool after three years here already, what kind of world do we live in?” The troll boy asked dramatically.

“You know who would be a big help to your cause?” Hinata asked with a slightly mischievous smile. “My friend, Yachi Hitoka.” 

He pulled her forward as she glanced up at the three senpais in front of her. Yachi made a small squeak before they introduced themselves. As it turned out, the troll’s name was Tanaka. Even Hinata was a little taken aback by his loud, brash nature, but he seemed harmless enough. 

Just as Hinata was about to leave Yachi to fend for herself, he spotted Iwaizumi and Oikawa coming up and they’d spotted him too. “Oh fantastic.” He groaned.

Oikawa smiled and pushed his way up to Hinata. “Chibi-chan! We meet again!”

“Too soon, Your Majesty.”

“So much attitude in such a little package.” Oikawa said, leaning down slightly.

Iwaizumi was too preoccupied to help him out this time and Kageyama wasn’t around to pull him off so Hinata took a deep breath and avoided jumping at Oikawa. “What do you want?”

“Oh just to mess with you. Oh and to sign the petition for a pool. Iwaizumi is a Siren you know, it could only help to have the pool around in case of an emergency.”

“An emergency that involves him taking his shirt off and getting wet you mean?” Hinata asked coyly. 

Oikawa’s cheeks flushed as he straightened back up. “Don’t presume to think you know anything, Chibi-chan.” He said coldly. 

Hinata shrugged. “Suit yourself, clearly I was right the last time.”

The other boy looked confused but rather than answer, he turned to someone calling his name. Kageyama strolled up with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on Oikawa though he spoke to Hinata. 

“Not messing with each other again, are you?” He asked.

Oikawa flashed him a smile. “Oh Tobio-chan, you know I don’t pick fights with my kouhai.” 

Kageyama didn’t drop his gaze and the two stayed locked in a silent battle that Hinata was very aware he had been caught in the middle of. Neither looked away until Iwaizumi put his hand on Oikawa’s shoulder. 

“Oi, shittykawa.”

“Rude, Iwa-chan!” He said, finally turning away and pouting at his friend. “I was winning that time.”

“We’re done here anyways.” He said firmly. “Let’s go.” Oikawa looked back at Hinata and Kageyama before following Iwaizumi out of the crowd and down one of the side paths. 

“Why do you enjoy picking fights with him?” Kageyama sighed.

“Hey, he came up to me this time.” Hinata said defensively. “Besides, I wasn’t fighting him. Though if I do, you’re fighting with me because I want to even the field a bit more than last time.” 

Kageyama shrugged. “Whatever.” 

“By the way, are the two of them-”

“Don’t ask about it.” Kageyama warned. “It’s a touchy subject.”

“You two are purebloods after all, aren’t you.” He pointed out. “I guess that’s kind of a condition of being in line for that position.”

Kageyama didn’t answer right away. Instead he looked out at where his cousin had disappeared. “Yeah, I guess so huh...”

“Not to interrupt your obviously deep thought process, but I’m going to be going now...” Hinata said turning on his heel and staring away.

“Hey.” Kageyama called out. “Umm... nevermind. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Hinata nodded then made his way into town, making all his usual detours. There was a number of places he’d rather be than at home so on a normal basis, he wasn’t home as early as yesterday afternoon with Kageyama. Natsu was probably expecting him home early again, but he wasn’t quite ready for that. 

Being wingless might have been okay for a while after most of his valkyrie friends got their wings because they all still knew him. He was still Hinata, he just couldn’t fly yet. After Natsu got her wings at nearly a record age though, things started getting hard for him. Natsu would never have looked at him any differently and not once did Hinata wish she lost her wings, but things were hard. Valkyries typically got their wings early, saving their friends from even mundane dangers and Hinata had certainly tried, but every time he had to think about it, it wouldn’t happen. But the more time wore on without them appearing, the more he thought about it. 

At one point, he heard his parents having a discussion whilst he was supposed to be in his room. He father apparently hated how things had panned out, going so far as to ask what was wrong with him. That was nearly a year after Natsu’s wings appeared. Hinata managed to avoid being caught, but the hole in his chest never really went away after that. Though it had never come to blows, there had been a few times Hinata fought with his dad over not having his wings yet, always making sure Natsu wasn’t around. 

He knew how his dad felt, but he was hardly ever home before late anymore so Hinata didn’t spend much time worrying about it. His mother on the other hand, she was harder to be around. Any time his dad had started up an argument, she sat by, letting them yell at each other and pretending nothing happened the next morning. Hinata feared she felt the same way and only kept up appearances for Natsu, just like he did. 

So Hinata did not go home. He wandered the town, climbed into the trees until he couldn’t climb any higher and spread his arms out when the breeze came, pretending that he was flying. Pretty much anything to distract himself from thinking too hard about it all. 

_ Why don’t you have your wings yet? _

He shut his eyes.

_ What happened to you? _

He shut them tighter.

_ How come you can’t just do it? _

He put his arms out at his sides. 

_ Your sister could handle it, at record age too. _

He leaned forward slightly as the branch beneath him moved. 

_ Something must be wrong with you. _

Suddenly, Hinata was falling. 

He only thought to cover his head as he tumbled down, hitting branches and getting scraps along his arms and face. He finally hit something hard, but not as hard as the ground. Looking around, Hinata saw he’d landed on the back of a gryffin who then deposited him on the ground and morphed back into humanoid form. 

“Are you okay?” He said in unison with another person who rushed up to Hinata and checked him for injuries. 

Hinata was startled by them both, the gryffin who now had broad shoulders and dark hair was looking over the other’s shoulder. The latter had bright hair, but deep black eyes. He almost scrambled away, but the demon smiled and the black faded away. 

“What’s your name?” He asked.

“H-Hinata. Hinata Shouyo.”

“I’m Sugawara Koshi and this is Sawamura Daichi. What were you doing up there in the trees?” 

“Oh... umm.. You know...”

“Suga, let him up.” Daichi held out his hand and helped him to his feet. “Did you lose anything along the way?” He asked. 

Hinata did a quick search of his bag and discovered a few things missing so Suga and Daichi offered their assistance. As Daichi turned into a gryffin again, Hinata couldn’t help but feel envious of how easy he’d gotten off with flying. Valkyries had to work for their wings, but gryffins, fairies, fallen angels, they all had them to begin with. Hinata shook the thoughts from his head and scouted the ground with Suga to see if anything had made it down already. 

By the time they recovered all of his belongings, Hinata knew he was going to be home just before dinner. He quickly said his thanks and goodbyes and rushed home, hoping his dad wasn’t going to be there before or right as he showed up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To anyone who doesn't already know this, I love all my children okay? Just cuz I have a bit of tension between Oikawa and Iwaizumi and Kags and Hinata doesn't mean anything other than it will help me slowly tear your hearts out later.
> 
> I mean what.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That’s how you got those scratches yesterday, right?”  
> “...No...”  
> “Hinata.”

He narrowly escaped another fight with his dad and the next morning found himself sore from the fall. Only Natsu had noticed the scratches across his body, or at least she’d been the only one to react to them, insisting he let her “help”. Hinata’s body was now covered with scratches and little patches Natsu had made to help even though none of them were all that serious. 

Yachi noticed as soon as he showed up the next morning, as did--surprisingly--Kageyama. He found himself surrounded by people asking him questions and attempted to contrive a story that wasn’t as lame as falling out of a tree. 

When he came up with none, he just sighed and said “I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” 

With the start of class came the end to the questions; finally, a reason to be happy about school. After class, Kageyama lingered, but decided against whatever he was going to say, leaving with most of the class and leaving Yachi and Hinata to walk like normal to their next class, which he had figured was going to be even worse when Tsukishima got a hold of him. He was surprised to see that the blonde was actually not at school, leaving Yamaguchi alone. 

“Where’s Tsukishima?” Yachi asked as they sat in front of him. 

“He’s um... home. Snake things I guess. He doesn’t like to talk about the whole...” he swept his hands over his skin “whatever.” 

Hinata shook his head. “We got it, we got it.” He tried to get the idea of Tsukishima shedding his skin out of his mind as quickly as possible. “Moving on, please.”

“What happened to your- everywhere?” Yamaguchi asked, looking Hinata over.

“Moving anywhere but there.” He said as he hid his face in his hands. 

“He’s been a little sensitive about it all day.” Yachi explained. 

Yamaguchi nodded. “You know, if you go up to the nurse’s office, they’ve got plenty of stuff that would fix it right up. I used to have to go a lot when I first started coming here because my wings kept getting smashed.”

“I’ll check it out.” He agreed. Maybe having big wings like Yamaguchi’s wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

By the fifth time Yachi asked him what happened, he remembered his plan from the day before. “Why don’t  _ you  _ tell me what happened yesterday?” He countered.

Yachi’s face colored immediately as she stuttered out a response. “I-I have no id-dea what you could mean?” She avoided his eyes.

“Oh you remember.” He insisted, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He was grateful that at least she was shorter than him. “You know, that pretty girl from yesterday... Oh what was her name? Kiyoko?”

“She’s... nice. She’s very nice.” Yachi admitted.

“Is she? So did the two of you get a chance to talk? Maybe exchange some info? What kind of creature is she, it must be water related.”

“Kiyoko is a nymph.”

“A nymph, well who could have guessed with how pretty she is.” Hinata was smiling now, finally understanding how much fun it was to be on the other side of this conversation.

“And she asked me to join their club.”

“Wait... what?”

“Yeah, I’m going to help make posters... We’re going over to her house later today.”

“Yachi, you have got to let me help you more often!”

“Shut up!” Yachi was getting flustered again and Hinata quickly poked her back, effectively making her transform and dashing off before she could yell at him. It worked in making her drop the subject of his scratches until he went to the nurse’s office. Since the nurse was a dryad who changed shape every time she hiccuped, Hinata was skeptical but sure enough, they were gone in a matter of minutes. 

Behind the nurse’s desk, he recognized Suga. “Hinata!” He called out, happily. 

“Suga, hi. What are you doing here?”

“I work in here sometimes.”

Hinata couldn’t get over the irony in a demon wanting to be a nurse. “That’s cool. Look, all my little cuts are gone.”

Suga smiled. “Don’t make us catch you again, alright?”

Hinata nodded sheepishly and excused himself. Late again to class, he had no choice but to sit by Kageyama, though he probably would have chosen the seat anyways. He seemed to notice the cuts were gone, but didn’t say anything. He was actually rather quiet, even when Hinata tried talking first. That was just Kageyama though, so Hinata didn’t worry about it too much. 

After school was pretty much the same routine as yesterday, though he was sure to secure himself to the tree with his bag this time to avoid falling again. He managed to get another unsuspected visitor, however, when he opened his eyes to a shift in the weight on the tree.

Kageyama was looking at him with one eyebrow raised, crouched on the branch next to him. Hinata was thankful for the strap holding him to the tree because he nearly lost his balance reeling back from surprise. Kageyama’s hand caught his and he held him steady, still not having asked what he clearly wanted to.

“You can’t scare people like that, Bakayama!” He frowned.

A ghost of a smile passed over his face. “I saw you up here. Your uh- hair is pretty easy to spot, even from the ground. But what are you doing up here?”

“Nothing.” Hinata blushed and turned away to start climbing back down. Kageyama made it down before him and was waiting at the base of the tree when he dropped to the ground. “Are you following me?”

“That’s how you got those scratches yesterday, right?”

“...No...”

“Hinata.”

“Hey, you didn’t answer my question.”

“No, but sometimes I wander around in the trees okay.”

“Dork.” 

“You realize you were literally doing the same thing, right? But standing on the top of them instead!” Kageyama said exasperatedly as Hinata started walking towards home.

Hinata rolled his eyes. “So what?”

“You were trying to see what it’s like weren’t you?” Hinata stopped and Kageyama almost walked into his back. Neither one spoke until Hinata shook his head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kageyama decided not to press it anymore and the two walked in silence until the reached the edge of town. The valkyrie turned to him slowly. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he nodded his head the way to his house. “I’m going off this way.”

Kageyama pointed down towards the middle of town. “I’m headed this way, but I’ll walk with you. I don’t like being home till later anyways.”

“Oh that reminds me, I’ve been meaning to ask about that whole Vampires and sunlight thing.” Hinata said as they turned and kept walking. 

“Magic.” He said, waving his fingers in front of him with a completely serious face.

Hinata elbowed him in the gut. “I’m serious! Like I know you guys typically shouldn’t come out until night and you, like, never sleep, so how are you going to school? Also, why like if I was going to inherit some big family with lots of money, I wouldn’t-”

“I might not get it. There’s Oikawa.” 

Hinata looked at him quizzically, but the raven haired boy was staring ahead of them, lost in thought. “You still didn’t answer my question.”

“Seriously? We have this like... well I don’t know what it is, but as long as we don’t transform, it protects us for the most part. I still wear my jacket as often as I can, but it worked well enough.”

Hinata let out a short burst of laughter. “You’re telling me you use sunblock and it actually works? That’s insane!” 

Kageyama scratched the back of his head and his cheeks colored slightly. As they approached Hinata’s house, he stiffened. “Who should be home right now, Hinata?” He asked suddenly. 

He seemed confused by the question. They were a few houses away still, why should it matter? “Umm, probably just my mom and my sister. My dad usually isn’t home this early.”

Kageyama shook his head. “Nevermind then.”  _ It’s none of my business. _

He left Hinata at the start of the path to his front door, but hesitated once he walked inside. The house fell mostly silent until Hinata said something quietly and seemed to walk quickly to his room. Kageyama shook his head and walked away, trying not to pry any more than he already had. 

 

The next day, he wished he had. Hinata wore his shirt sleeves cuffed down a little farther than normal, but Kageyama caught sight of thin bruises that stretched oddly like someone had grabbed him roughly by the arms. Yachi seemed to notice and asked too, but just like before, Hinata tried to brush off the topic.

The next time Kageyama saw him, they were gone. He probably made a stop off at the nurse’s again and he couldn’t bring them up without admitting he’d noticed earlier. Would that count as prying? He assumed so, but he considered making an exception this time. 

After that, they found themselves spending more time outside of school together, roaming the forest together. Usually, they didn’t talk. Kageyama feared poking too much into Hinata’s life if he didn’t want him there. Hinata on the other hand just liked having someone else around; someone who filled the silence with calm breathing and made the trees seem a little less tall, a little more attainable. 


	6. Just A Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don’t have a crush on Kageyama, he told himself. He’s just a friend.

One day, their routine was altered by a not so startling discovery. Hinata was talking about something Natsu had done the day before when Kageyama put his arm out and silenced him with a look. His ears detected something far ahead of them on the path, but he couldn’t quite make out what or who it was. As soon as he did, his eyes grew big and Hinata got excited, not realizing they’d nearly walked into something that Hinata might very well be killed over. 

The valkyrie ran forward down the path before Kageyama could stop him, making him just a moment too late to stop Hinata from seeing what he’d already heard. As soon as Hinata screeched to a halt, Kageyama scooped him off the ground, hurrying past and praying Oikawa hadn’t heard or seen him, cursing Hinata’s damn orange hair. 

As soon as Kageyama stopped, almost too far away to see the town, he still had Hinata in his arms, listening intently for any sound of pursuit. 

“You can-”

“Shush!” He practically hissed.

Hinata waited until Kageyama slowly set him back on the ground. “So I’m guessing that was exactly what it looked like...” He said hesitantly.

“You can’t tell  _ anyone _ . And not like a ‘don’t tell them we’re dating, we don’t want everyone to know’ type of way, I mean really. You cannot tell a single creature, or if you do, you’re going to die.” Kageyama’s eyes bored into Hinata’s and his hands settled firmly on his small shoulders.

“Okay, okay. But since you know what happened, then I can-”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Kageyama!”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“So Oikawa’s making out with Iwaizumi, what-”

Kageyama slapped a hand over Hinata’s mouth and his eyes darted around the forest again. “If you try that again, I’m not kidding you idiot, they’ll  _ have  _ to kill you!”

Hinata registered the seriousness in his tone and the urgency in his eyes so he nodded slowly. “It really is that serious?” He asked quietly.

“Oikawa could lose his claim that way. If anyone finds out, he could be disowned. We’re  _ pureblood _ , remember? There’s this girl I guess he’s sort of supposed to be marrying once he gets the title. She lives in some other village and I guess they used to be friends, but that was before he met Iwaizumi. See the thing with Vampire is that... well it’s a bit complicated, but supposedly once we fall in love, like for real, that’s it. It could kill us to not be with that person and ever since he’s known Iwaizumi... well let’s just say I don’t know how long he could last without him.”

Hinata glanced back into the trees even though Kageyama had gotten them far enough away that there was no way he could see the two from here. “He loves him, and you can tell?”

“Yeah, I’ve known him my entire life. We used be... well Oikawa and I didn’t always hate being cousins.” 

He sighed and turned Hinata towards the town, taking the long way around to avoid stumbling upon them again.  Hinata wasn’t sure what to say, so instead he followed Kageyama. They went to Hinata’s house first and just before Kageyama turned away, Hinata asked what had been on his mind. “Have you ever met someone like that, Kageyama?”

He hesitated. “I don’t know. I’ll keep you posted though.”

Hinata nodded and found Natsu waving behind him. Kageyama waved back then left to go back to his own house. 

Out of all that had happened today, surprisingly stumbling across Oikawa and Iwaizumi making out in the forest  _ wasn’t  _ the biggest thing on Hinata’s mind. Nor was it the test they apparently had tomorrow or the fight he and his dad had had last night. 

Iwaizumi and Oikawa were practically a couple; anyone who didn’t think so was either an idiot or had a crush on one of them. So no, that wasn’t the most shattering thing he’d thought about today, though it did raise a lot of questions; like how brutally would his family choose to murder him? It may or may not have been a bad habit of his to blurt out secrets. He had hoped Kageyama was just kidding around, but there wasn’t much in his tone that made that hope very founded. 

As to the test, he just figured he’d copy off of the smart witch who sat near them- Kenma if he remembered right- like normally. For the last one, well... he’d gotten used to it. As much as he hated that he  _ had _ , it didn’t make him lose much sleep anymore when his father yelled at him or shook him by the arms. 

No, what had him losing sleep that night, tossing and turning, was Kageyama. He would swear that Yachi was still wrong, that the way Kageyama’s arms wrapped around him and literally swept him off his feet  _ didn’t  _ make his heart beat faster, and that confirmation that he and Oikawa couldn’t be with anyone but another vampire didn’t upset him more than it should. He would swear nothing had changed. 

While he could tell that to anyone else, he really couldn’t convince himself. 

“Stupid Yachi. Stupid Yamaguchi and Tsukishima.” He whined into his pillow. “Stupid Kageyama.”

_ I don’t have a crush on Kageyama _ , he told himself.  _ He’s just a friend. _

  
  


_ I don’t have a crush on Kageyama _ , he told himself again the next morning.  _ He’s just a friend. _

Yachi walked up to him as he approached the main entrance of the school with her cheeks pink and her smile wide. “Guess what I know!”

Hinata’s gut instinct was to deny his  _ completely  _ nonexistent crush before he realized she probably wasn’t talking about anything to do with him. “What’s that?”

“That a certain school of the arcane is getting a pool!” She could barely keep her wings in at this point she was so excited. “Kiyoko and I went right into Ukai-sensei’s office yesterday after we um” -Hinata noticed her eyes quickly dart away, but decided not to point it out just yet- “worked on a poster and we made our case. Noya-senpai and Tanaka-senpai were there just as we were finishing up and he probably agreed more to get us all out of his room, but we’re getting that pool!”

“That’s great!” He smiled. “I’m sure you’ve only improved your chances with Kiyoko now!”

Now, Yachi’s face fell a little. “Umm, about that... She’s asked me to go sit with her at lunch today to start coming up with the plans since that was part of the whole deal; we don’t get it until we can give him a formal plan that he can carry out. So-”

“Don’t even worry about it.” He waved his hand. “Go work, plan, make out, whatever I’ll figure something out.”

Hinata grinned as Yachi looked alarmed at his insinuation, but they’d made it into class so she didn’t have a chance to retort. His luck seemed to dwindle again as Tsukishima and Yamaguchi took the seats between him and Kenma. With Yamaguchi's wings, there was no way Hinata was copying off the witch’s test now. Still, he was in a good mood for some reason and not even this was going to ruin that for him. 

_ I don’t have a crush on Kageyama _ , he told himself as he walked into the first class they shared.  _ He’s just a friend. _

Kageyama looked surprised to see him walk up after class and ask if there was someone he was meeting for lunch. He admitted there wasn’t, that he would have just been by himself like normal, so they found a corner of the campus and settled in to eat. While this was decidedly more awkward than any other time they’d hung out, Hinata couldn’t help but notice he was probably the only one of them who thought that. Kageyama remained cool and collected, like they had done this a million times before. It was nice to think that he was so comfortable if Hinata could just relax, it would be great.

It didn’t help that he was a vampire. Hinata tried to focus on how he always called him a dumbass or an idiot, but he couldn’t quite take it all to heart the way he wished he could to get over this constant thought in the back of his head. 

_ I don’t have a crush on Kageyama _ , he told himself as the bell rang for their next class.  _ He’s just a friend. _

Somehow, rumor had spread around that they’d spent the free period together because when Tsukishima saw him in the hallway as school was getting out, he made a point to bring it up. “So you and one of our resident kings? I told you I knew who Yachi was talking about.”

Hinata’s pace quickened. “Go away, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh yeah you do.” He smirked as his longer legs caught up to him. “Come on, you have to know that isn’t going to-”

“Who are you?” Without noticing, Hinata had nearly walked past Kageyama before he spoke up, his question made pointedly towards the blond. 

“Kageyama!”

“Don’t worry about it.” Tsukishima said, looking amused. “I’m just leaving.” He gave Hinata a last, knowing glance, and turned back around.

“That’s Tsukishima. He’s a basilisk and I think he just likes messing with me.” He waved his hand dismissively and started walking again.

“Why do you let him, dumbass!” Kageyama said like it was an obvious solution.

“Umm, have you seen me? I don’t know how intimidating I look. My being flightless and all...”

Kageyama looked at him sadly as Hinata said it almost casually, like this might just be the way the rest of his life went, pinned to the ground while his head flew through the clouds without him. 

“You’ll show him someday, right?”

“You bet I will!” Hinata beamed up at him, making them both blush a little bit and hope the other didn’t notice. 


	7. Time For a Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did you try to fight him again?” Yachi sighed, exasperatedly. “Is this going to be a problem?”
> 
> “It’s been almost two and a half months since last time!” Hinata said defensively.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Strap yourself in cuz I just realized this chapter might be a bit of a fast ride *-* hehe

The next morning, Hinata found the pathway to the school blocked just before it melded into the courtyard. In front of him stood a group he only knew two members out of, but his stomach fell at the numbers they clearly had against him.

“Chibi-chan!” Oikawa called out in his normally cheerful voice. His eyes didn’t seem to convey the same message of welcome and Hinata tried not to blurt out that he hadn’t seen them making out in the forest. If they were here, they probably already knew and he was dead anyways. 

“O-Oikawa...” 

He waltzed forward until he was just a foot in front of him. “So, flightless one-”

“Oikawa.” Iwaizumi warned from behind him.

“I hear you any a certain cousin of mine have been... spending a bit of time together, is that right?” Hinata practically sighed. Maybe he wasn’t dead after all! Another look up to Oikawa’s face and he realized he wasn’t in the clear yet, making him gulp. 

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He said, making a point to look down on the valkyrie. “That might be a problem. For you.”

Hinata straightened to his highest but there wasn’t much of a difference. “Are you threatening me, Oikawa?” 

The vampire smiled. “Definitely.” 

“Oikawa.” Someone said from behind them. Hinata turned to see a group of people he’d never been so happy to see in his life. Daichi, Suga, Tanaka, Nishinoya and another, very tall student who could have easily been one of the teachers, was coming up the path behind Hinata. They now outmanned Oikawa’s group, but Hinata wasn’t hopeful for a victory if it came to a fight. 

As if to prove his point, one of them jumped to Oikawa’s side, growing a second head out of his shoulders as they both transformed into something like a dog; an Orthos. Hinata jumped back, but Tanaka and Suga moved to stand on either side of him. Only Suga’s eyes had changed, unlike Tanaka who had transformed almost completely into his troll form.

“Sawamura.” Oikawa said, not flinching at anything else. “Kyotani, I can handle this.” He said, putting a hand on the Orthos’ shoulder. 

The latter didn’t retreat until Iwaizumi called him back, taking his spot next to Oikawa. He had no more malice in his looks than normal- which Hinata assumed came with being pinned to Oikawa for so long- and just crossed his arms like he had tried to talk Oikawa out of this idea before and wanted so badly to say “I told you so”.

“I hope we didn’t interrupt anything.” Daichi said calmly.

Oikawa shrugged. “I think I made my point already.” He looked back at Hinata. “I hope so, anyways.”

Hinata didn’t drop his gaze. “I’ll take it under advisement, thanks.” 

Iwaizumi knocked Oikawa’s arm with his elbow and gestured for them to leave. “We’re going to be late because of you.” He muttered.

“You’ll survive, Iwa-chan!” 

“ _ I _ will, but I’m not sure  _ you  _ will.” 

“So rude!” 

As the walked into the school, Hinata let out a breath he felt like he’d been holding in since he first saw Oikawa standing there. “I am so glad you guys walked up when you did!”

Noya beamed. “Never leave a kouhai unprotected! By the way, Shouyo, I don’t think you’ve met Asahi yet.” He motioned towards the tall, quiet guy who towered over Hinata.  _ Giant _ , he told himself.

“I’m Hinata Shouyo.”

“Asahi Azumane.” The shook hands.

“What did they want with you?” Suga asked, looking concerned and a lot less scary with his eyes back to their softer brown. 

“Just messing with me I think.” He lied. He wasn’t sure what to make of Oikawa’s warning which felt an awful lot more like a threat. Did he think that they were more than friends? 

They all ended up making it to class on time, but Hinata had barely made it in the door when Takeda-sensei began talking, ignoring his frantic scrambling into the seat Yachi had managed to save for him. He shook his head before she could even finish opening her mouth. 

“I’ll tell you later” he whispered, still managing to get Tsukishima’s attention. 

He leaned forward when Takeda turned around and smirked. “You got  _ caught  _ didn’t you? You and-

“Shut up!” Hinata said through his teeth. “I’m not talking to you about this.”

Tsukishima laughed, but settled back into his seat. 

Hinata was really starting to hate being the center of attention. Yachi begged him for an explanation as soon as the bells rang and Tsukishima was only too happy to wait around to hear something he could make a rumor about later. 

“It’s nothing really. I just kind of ran into Oikawa before school.”

“Did you try to fight him again?” Yachi sighed, exasperatedly. “Is this going to be a problem?”

“It’s been almost two and a half months since last time!” Hinata said defensively. “And no, actually this wasn’t about a fight. He’s just like Tsukishima, he likes to mess with me.” He wasn’t even sure why he didn’t want to tell anyone they’d been talking about Kageyama, but it felt easier not to think about it.

 

Throughout that day and the next, Kageyama seemed a bit more quiet than normal, which wouldn’t have caught Hinata’s attention since he hardly talked in class anyways, but he seemed to zone out even after school too. 

“Hey, Kageyama. Are you okay?” He asked, waving his hand between them at one point. 

“Shut up, I’m fine.” He grumbled. “I uh-”

“Oi, Hinata!” Nishinoya called from behind him. “I- woa, you’re friends with the king?” He asked, sounding amazed. 

Kageyama clenched his fists, but Hinata interceded before he could say anything. “Umm, that’s a touchy subject. Nishinoya-senpai, this is Kageyama Tobio. Kageyama, this is Nishinoya Yuu.”

Noya stuck out his hand, not giving Kageyama much of a choice but to stumble through a ‘nice to meet you’. “So! Shouyo, I was going to ask again about this morning. I heard Oikawa talking in the hall yesterday about you and-”

“What did he say?” Kageyama asked suddenly.

“Oh, umm I don’t remember much but he mentioned Hinata and something about yesterday morning.”

“What happened yesterday morning?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Hinata groaned, turning towards the path and staring down it. “It was nothing, I swear!”

“Daichi-san! Suga!” Noya called out to the pair in front of them.

Kageyama sighed like he was already exhausted by having this many people around. Introductions were made again and pretty much the same round of questions was exchanged. Hinata turned towards the woods, hoping most of them would give up but they followed him and wouldn’t let up at all.

“Alright, alright.” He said finally, turning towards them all. “I-”

“Noya!” A deep voice said, stumbling upon them. Asahi walked up and noticed Hinata looking exasperated. “Did I interrupt?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” He waved his hand. “Long story short, Oikawa just told me to stop spending so much time with you, Kageyama. I guess it makes your family look bad since I’m just a valkyrie and one without wings at that.”

Everyone turned to look at Kageyama who shrugged. “Well screw that, I don’t really care what he thinks.”

Hinata smiled, relieved to hear their friendship meant that much to him. He supposed he understood, there was something of a synchronization between them like they could predict each other's moves or thoughts without really trying. 

“I supposed I should tell you what I heard about Oikawa about today then...” He added. With Hinata’s look of excitement, he continued. “But you’re not going to like it.”

“What?” He asked warily.

“Oikawa went to ask for a quest this morning after first period and... they gave him the Little Giant.”

Hinata felt his heart burst out of his chest and his head explode at the same time. “They WHAT?” He demanded, looking around like someone was going to tell him Kageyama was joking. “But-but they don’t give that quest out more than once a year!” 

“I didn’t know how to tell you...” Kageyama said, scratching the back of his head. 

“That’s the worst news I have ever heard! How in the-”

“Should we maybe uh...” Asahi looked around their group like he wasn’t sure what they were supposed to be doing.

“If I ever see his  _ perfect  _ face again, I’m going to-” Kageyama cut off his words with his hand over the valkyrie’s mouth. 

Everyone stayed quiet until Kageyama let Hinata go. “Something is wrong. Something feels off.” He said in almost a whisper. Before Hinata could ask, there was a buzz through the air and Kageyama had pushed them apart, an arrow lodged in the tree where their faces had just been.

“Someone’s out there.”

“Thanks genius” Hinata mumbled picking himself off the ground. 

“Daichi!” Suga called out. He seemed to understand and they both took off in the direction the arrow had come, Daichi’s wings sprouting as they went. 

“Who was that? Can you tell from here?” Noya asked, pulling Kageyama to his feet.

“I can’t tell anything for sure. This smell is so muddled.”

“I can’t either.” Asahi agreed. “I can typically smell pretty well even when it’s not the full moon.”

“Wait.. you’re not a giant?” Hinata asked. 

Asahi looked confused. “No? I’m a werewolf... Pretty comical right? A werewolf like me? I’m more like a puppy.”

“I don’t even know anymore.” Hinata shook his head. 

“We need to get out of here, I feel like we should get back to the school.” Noya cautioned.

“What about Daichi and Suga?” Another arrow embedded itself in the ground at Hinata’s feet, barely missing pinning his shoes to the grass. “Maybe they can wait.” He squeaked. 

“It’s not coming from there.” Kageyama said turning away from the trees where they’d disappeared. “The arrows aren’t traveling in a straight line.” He shook a little and when he opened his eyes, they glowed red and sent chills up Hinata’s spine. 

“Can you tell how many of them there are?” He asked, dropping his voice.

“Not yet.” Kageyama jerked his head a little to the side suddenly and Hinata felt like the world had slipped into slow motion. No, more like he was suddenly hyper aware, like there had been a fog over his eyes until now. Suddenly, he could see the path of the arrow like it had dragged a string behind it as it flew. Kageyama was right, it wasn’t flying straight, it curved through the trees like it was being controlled. 

He had only seconds to react before the arrow would hit Kageyama, so naturally, all common sense left his head. Instead of pulling him away, he stupidly jumped in front of of his friend, catching the arrow with his own body instead. 

Time seemed to speed up now, almost too fast as he fell to the ground, Kageyama catching him as he did. There was a sluggish feeling to his limbs as he tried to get to his feet and managed to pull them both to the ground. Kageyama peered down at him and Hinata was aware he was draped across his lap. There was a distortion to the world, a paleness that flooded his view and he figured he was probably dying. 

_ Great, why not right now?  _ He thought bitterly.

“Hinata!” Kageyama screamed. The voice sounded distant. “You idiot, how did you- why?” He sounded more concerned than angry as his hands shook, ripping the shirt off of his chest. 

He’d caught the arrow almost in his heart, no wonder he was dying. He really was an idiot. The strangled noise that escaped Kageyama’s mouth made Hinata think there was probably some sort of poison on the tip too. Even better--not only did he have to die, but he had to die painfully. 

The pain set in all at once, making Hinata arch his back in sudden shock. Kageyama called Asahi and Noya to hold him still. 

“This is going to hurt like hell okay, suffer through it.” He said, pulling Hinata up a little and pushing the arrow through to pierce his back. 

Hinata let out a violent scream that seemed to shake the trees and the ground. His head couldn’t focus on anything else, not even as Kageyama snapped off the end and removed the arrow completely. Not even as Kageyama hoisted him up, hugging the valkyrie’s torso to his own. “Come on, dumbass, you’re not going to die. Not here, not on me! You saved, me, Hinata, you can’t die for that!” 

Then the pain stopped. 

As suddenly as it hit, it was gone. There was a burst that separated him and Kageyama, tossing them both in opposite directions and landing Hinata on his face almost ten feet away. Asahi and Noya were speechless as Hinata stood, groggily. He wobbled like he was unaware of his own weight and nearly tipped backwards. 

“You did it...” Kageyama breathed. 

Hinata turned to see the three of them gazing at him with such intensity, he thought maybe he’d turned into a ghost. “I died, didn’t I?”

“Hinata, look at yourself!” Kageyama exclaimed. Hinata looked down at his ripped shirt and saw no entry wound where the arrow had just been. He felt his back for the exit wound Kageyama had made, but found something else sprouting there. He flexed his muscles and felt his feet lift off the ground. He wasn’t sure how, but he flexed the right way and pulled in two pure black wings around his body, touching them lightly. 

“I- I...” His fingers traced the natural flow of feathers and felt every touch like he was grazing his fingers across his arms. “They’re mine.”

“Kageyama, what’s on you then?” Asahi asked. 

Kageyama looked down and pulled the collar of his shirt down to see two imprints of a set of wings. “Are you kidding me!” He yelled.

Hinata finally tore his eyes away from his wings and looked at Kageyama’s pale chest, now with two red wings on them. “Whoops.”

“ _ Whoops _ ?” He demanded, rising to his feet and stomping over to Hinata. 

The valkyrie flinched and accidentally extended one of his wings to hit a tree next to him. “Oww.” 

“You’re an idiot.” Kageyama said putting his hands on Hinata’s face. He flinched again and rose just enough for Kageyama to press their lips together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for almost killing him.....


	8. Watch Me Fly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama’s hands moved slightly at his sides while he debated whether or not to reach out to the small orange haired boy. He settled on gently touching the black feathers and dragging his fingers up their natural arch to the very tip, making Hinata shiver slightly. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them except how other people can’t see how amazing they are.”

Hinata knew hiding his wings wasn’t going to be possible, so he got home as late as he could that night, eating at a little restaurant with Kageyama and the others to avoid having to see his mom or dad when he got home. They wouldn’t want to hear about how he had almost died or how they figured out it was a human who’d attacked them- Daichi and Suga captured him, but he had stabbed himself with one of his poisoned arrows and before they knew it, he was dead- and they certainly wouldn’t care that he’d just gotten his first kiss. They might care that it was Kageyama Tobio, the next possible heir to his clan, but that’s not really who’d kissed him.

The person who kissed him was a complete dork, his friend; a person who had absolutely no reason to be. In the past, his friends had been valkyries until they’d gotten their wings or people who wouldn’t stick around for very long because no one wanted to be stuck with the flightless valkyrie as their friend... not that he could ever blame them, he hated being the flightless thing he was. But now... well he felt like he’d found somewhere he could belong. 

No one mentioned the kiss after it happened, not even Noya who had been stunned into silence as soon as it happened. Suga and Daichi probably wouldn’t figure it out until Asahi remembered to tell them later, but for now all they could do was talk about how he’d earned his wings. He had risked his own life to save someone else with only the thought that if Kageyama had been hit, he wouldn’t have known what to do.

Once dinner was over, Kageyama fell in beside Hinata and walked him home like normal. Hinata slowly realized there was more to think about here than his wings- which would sometimes bump into things while they walked- or their kiss.

“Why do you think he was here?” He asked once they’d reached his house. 

“I can’t imagine. But I think we need to figure it out before word gets out that there’s a dead human in the woods.”

“You know... that probably wouldn’t have happened if I’d kept my cool a little bit better back there...” Hinata said with a sigh.

“Hey. It’s okay to get angry.” Kageyama said, wincing as he had no idea what to say to cheer him up. “I mean, you got a little out of hand, but you were mad. It happens. And look what else happened.” He said dragging his fingertips across the outer structure of the black wigs and making a shiver run down Hinata’s spine.

“A lot happened today huh.” Hinata said, blushing and avoiding Kageyama’s eyes.

“Yeah.. I don’t know if you were- well I was just you know... grateful for the whole saving me thing I guess...”

Hinata flapped his wings once and propelled himself far enough off the ground to plant a peck on Kageyama’s cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow. After school, we’re demanding an extension on that quest. I don’t care if it’s against the rules.”

“Rule breaking? You would never.”

Hinata beamed and floated his way to the front door of his house, slipping inside and hopping his parents would ignore him like normal.

Kageyama waited outside to be sure Hinata got up to his room okay and smiled when he heard Hinata creep into Natsu’s room. She was excited that her brother had finally earned his wings, but Hinata managed to keep her quiet. Once Kageyama was satisfied Hinata was content, he turned and made his way home, thinking about black wings and the imprints that were already almost faded on his chest

  
  


The next day, Kageyama was waiting in the courtyard when Yachi walked up. “Are you looking for Hinata too?”

He glanced down at her and her bright smile which made him smile a little too. “Yeah, I guess.” 

She eyed him carefully and nodded a little. “So I called it by the way.”

“What?” 

“That he liked you. I couldn’t be sure about you, but I hoped it would work out in the end.”

Kageyama smiled. “How long did you know, exactly?”

“That’s not really important, what is, however, is what happens now.” She took a deep breath and moved in front of him. She looked nervous standing up to him, but at the same time she looked very determined. “You’re a pureblood vampire and from what I’ve heard, you have a claim that puts Hinata at risk. I can’t say that I’d ever be able to beat you, but just know that when it comes to Hinata, I won’t let him get hurt.”

Kageyama looked surprised when she first spoke, but his face softened and he nodded. “Don’t worry, I won’t either.” 

She sighed and let her shoulders fall. “Good, because you’d do a lot better than I would honestly.” 

“Better at what?”

They turned to see Hinata just reaching them. Yachi gawked at his large, black wings and he tried not to beam too big. He couldn’t help but smile at finally getting them. “I guess no one can call me flightless anymore.”

Yachi threw her arms around his neck and admired them with big eyes. “They’re so pretty! What happened? You have to tell me!” 

“Can I tell you about it later? I need to talk to Kageyama really quick.” 

Yachi looked back at the vampire and nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you in class.” She skipped off towards the front of the school where she clasped hands with a taller, dark haired girl. 

“So what do you need to talk about?” He asked.

Hinata’s smile fell. “Ah, right. Well, this morning my mom saw my wings and I kind of expected everyone to be excited about it but she looked, I don’t know, sad?”

Kageyama tilted his head. “Why? You’re a valkyrie, what does the color of your wings matter?”

“I don’t know. But everyone else that I’ve ever known has had the same bronze colored wings as my sister. I think it might have something to do with the poison from that arrow because I also found this-” he opened his shirt to where the arrow had pierced his chest and a small black spot hovered near his heart- “when I was getting dressed this morning. Do you know how hard it is to cut holes for these things?” He asked fluttering his wings slightly. 

“Focus, you idiot.” Kageyama muttered. “You didn’t ask her what was wrong, you just left it as something-is-wrong-I’ll-just-be-going-to-school-now?” 

“Well I didn’t like the way she was staring at them.” Hinata blushed and looked down at his feet, his wings tucking in around him. “I’m just sick of everyone seeing something wrong with me.” He sighed. 

Kageyama’s hands moved slightly at his sides while he debated whether or not to reach out to the small orange haired boy. He settled on gently touching the black feathers and dragging his fingers up their natural arch to the very tip, making Hinata shiver slightly. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them except how other people can’t see how amazing they are.” 

Hinata blushed and smiled a little. “You’re going to make me late for class.”

“Then get going, dumbass, and don’t worry about your wings okay. I’m going to show you how to use them after school today.” He promised.

“I don’t know that bat wings are quite the same as valkyries wings...”

“Do you  _ want  _ help?” 

“Yes, yes I’m sorry!” 

“Then shut up.” Kageyama shoved his hands in his pockets and they made their way inside. 

 

It was an afternoon like Hinata had never felt before. At first he was annoyed as he and Kageyama hadn’t even been able to get into the Quest office that day added to the fact that Oikawa and his team Iwaizumi--an Owlman named Bokuto and an elf named Akaashi--were already on their way. He was mad, but once they found a clearing and he dropped his bags, flexing his wings, he felt a little better.

“So I still haven’t heard anything about that human we saw the other day.” Kageyama said as way of making conversation. 

“Neither have I, but maybe Daichi and Suga wanted to keep us out of it to avoid suspicion.” Hinata stretched his wings out as far as he could, keeping his back to Kageyama. “Speaking of suspicion...” 

He stopped when Kageyama’s hands returned to his wings, this time trailing them to the end at his back. “That’ll be a problem for later. Now, we need to teach you how to fly for when you get that quest. And I better be the first one on your team, got it?”

“Obviously, Bakayama.”

Before he knew what was going on, Kageyama had disappeared from behind him, leaving just a bat in his wake. Hinata huffed at first and flexed his wings, moving them up and down a few times slowly before getting his feet off the ground. 

Teaching Hinata to fly felt like teaching a Vampire how to change into a bat, once he got going it took forever to get him back down. Kageyama remembered he couldn’t change back for almost a week. Nevertheless, it was like he’d had his wings for years already; he was a natural. 

That being said, his landings were usually accidental and mostly because of flying into trees and branches, but he never let that stop him. Kageyama called him a dumbass more in the two hours they spent flying than he had in the months they’d known each other up until now, but Hinata didn’t care. He was flying, he was a true valkyrie and honestly, he was pretty happy Kageyama was there to share it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not to worry you... but things are about to get a lot worse


	9. Four Months is a Long Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oikawa?” Akaashi called from somewhere down the hall.
> 
> “Yeah?” He answered, not peeling his eyes away.
> 
> “Iwaizumi is waking up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news: we get to see what Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Bokuto, and Akaashi are doing!
> 
>  
> 
> Bad news: we get to see what Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Bokuto, and Akaashi are doing...

In the next few months, Hinata and Kageyama didn’t give up on the quest for the Little Giant. They knew it would be another year before they could put in a request, but they trained after school on anything they could think of. As it grew longer and longer since Oikawa had left, Kageyama’s parents grew more excited for the prospect of their son inheriting the family title. He felt almost completely different and he worried more and more everyday Oikawa didn’t return.

Even though he’d made it clear that their being together could end badly for Hinata, the little valkyrie had refused to leave his side. Almost four months after Oikawa had left for his mission, Kageyama tried to explain to Hinata that their budding relationship had to stop, to which Hinata promptly called him a dumbass and planted a kiss on his mouth. 

_ I’m not going to let some ancient tradition that has nothing to do with me keep me away from you. _ He’d said. _ Until you tell me  _ you  _ want me to leave, I’ll be right here beside you. Together we’re invincible. _

Still, there was an undeniable danger in their not-quite-relationship which made them distance themselves at school or in town. Kageyama wasn’t very touchy feely anyways, but there were some times he looked sideways at the valkyrie in class and he just wanted to wind their fingers together under the desks, just a little touch to say he was thinking about him. Hinata had a harder time keeping down the urge to hug or kiss Kageyama while at school but they tried keeping a little distance between them which did help remind him.

The longer Oikawa was gone the more Kageyama wished he’d just give up and come home on his own two legs; despite their growing apart in recent years, he was still worried about his cousin. He hoped that with a siren along, they’d be okay but he couldn’t help but think the worst, especially as the months passed. The other vampire had a pride that could rival nearly anyone else he’d ever met.

 

Oikawa sometimes thought about Kageyama too, though most of his time recently was spent worrying about his team. He had to be the worst captain of a team in the country- no the world. He’d led them into a trap, his nose should have sensed it, his eyes should have noticed it. 

He had asked them all along on this grand journey that would earn them all more than they could probably imagine and here they were in an stinking dungeon of a dark tower in a filthy  _ human  _ town. 

Oikawa winced as a small beam of sunlight drifted lazily closer to him. Even though he knew straining against the chains wouldn’t work, he tried to move. They held him fast to the wall and the pain he endured every mid morning for months now drew nearer and nearer.

“Oikawa?” Akaashi called from somewhere down the hall.

“Yeah?” He answered, not peeling his eyes away.

“Iwaizumi is waking up.”

“Iwa-chan!” He pulled away from the wall this time, straining to see into the cell he could barely catch a glimpse into that held the siren. “Iwa-chan!”

Iwaizumi stirred slightly, lifting his head from the cold cobblestone ground underneath him. “Why are you yelling at me?”

“You’re okay!” Oikawa sighed in relief. 

“Of course I’m okay.” There was a sound of chains scraping across the stone floor. “I always am.”

“Let me worry about you, grumpy Iwa-chan.” 

“Shut up.” He groaned, but there was no malice in his voice. Oikawa settled back against the wall, aware the light was nearly upon him now. “Is it almost time?” Iwaizumi called out.

“Mhm.” He said, keeping his mouth shut to avoid crying out once the light touched his skin. He clenched his fists tightly and bit the inside of his cheek as the light seared along the same line in his exposed leg. 

This was just one form of torture that disgusting human had dreamt up for them. Most of the sun was blocked out of Oikawa’s cell except for that one beam that seared into him every day. Along with that, he was chained so he could hardly see Iwaizumi and hadn’t seen Akaashi or Bokuto since the night they’d been ambushed. He’d never even seen the human who held them here, one who called himself Ushijima and had a rough, unpleasant voice that set Oikawa’s teeth on edge. The worst though was the starvation. Since they’d been thrown in here, he had no way of drinking blood, not even a drop and since he was used to having his choice of “servants” who let him feed off of them, he was losing his mind.

He’d been so suddenly cut off that the first week he feared he’d go mad with desire for it. The only thing that had kept him sane was Iwaizumi’s calm reassurance that somehow they would make it out. He had promised that even if it was the last thing he did, they would not die in this damned tower. Of course Oikawa couldn’t die even if he wanted to; vampires wouldn’t die from simple things like starvation, they would just lose strength and eventually, Oikawa wouldn’t even be able to stand on his own feet, but no he’d never die from it. 

That was the real torture of it.

Iwaizumi’s case was odd. Back when humans plagued the forests that the magical creatures lived in- before almost any living creature could remember now- sirens would die if a human managed to get away from hearing their song. Not even Oikawa had been able to resist Iwaizumi’s song before and he’d spent years trying but this human, this Ushijima, managed to leave each time. The first time it happened, Oikawa screamed as Iwaizumi fell to the ground, straining against his chains and not stopping until Akaashi could be heard over him. The elf assured him Iwaizumi was merely unconscious and none of them had an explanation as to why or how. He’d pass out for weeks at a time having a few days in between before Ushijima would take him away again. Oikawa never saw it happen after that first time since they always took them away to some other room for their torture. 

Elves typically had the highest level of immunity to all diseases, even those that caused immediate death. Akaashi’s torture was having to endure countless human diseases from measles to smallpox which he was only just now getting through after nearly two weeks. His body was weak and pale and his hair was brittle and limp. Part of Bokuto wondered whether or not a part of their torture was seeing the other in so much pain. Akaashi kept to a far corner of his cell whenever he was sick again to keep the others safe. He hated not being close to Bokuto when all he really wanted was to feel the owlman’s warmth beneath his fingertips. 

The outer door was opened abruptly and the pained sounds of Bokuto’s exhaustion were heard as they put him back into his cell. His arms dripped with blood as was usual after days spent in that other room. For him, Ushijima made him change, getting him so agitated that Bokuto assumed his owlman form--a creature that Oikawa had only seen once and had been terrified of instantly. Since in that form his body was covered with feathers, Ushijima plucked them one by one. They would always be there once he transformed again, so there was no end to the pain he had to feel, sometimes twice in one sitting. 

“Bokuto!” Akaashi called, crawling to the end of his cell and straining to reach him through the bars. Since he was cleared of smallpox now, he used as much time as he could to be near his boyfriend, aware he might not get the chance again for weeks. Bokuto reached out too, his arms trembling and weak.

Oikawa finally panted as the light slid off his skin and he hung his head. It was his fault that they were here. Some leader he was. Some grand vampire. These were the times his thoughts turned to Kageyama. Maybe they’d already given the title over to his cousin. At this point, he feared that Tobio may be the better fit; if he couldn’t protect four of his friends, how could he be expected to lead his family? 

“How long has it been?” He asked.

After so many days and weeks and months locked away with only the mark of pain seared into his skin to tell the passing of the days, and the in and out of his friends as they were taken off to be tortured, Oikawa had lost track of time. He could hardly stand the thought of one more minute locked away. Without anything to live off of his immortal body was beginning to feel like a tomb above the ground. 

“About  four months.” Akaashi wheezed out.

Bokuto groaned as his chains slid across the floor, probably propping himself up into a sitting position. “That means three months since we’ve been in here.”

“And eight more until someone else gets it again.” Iwaizumi added.

None of them said it but they all knew who would be first in line to take up this quest. The little flightless valkyrie and based on how things had gone for them, probably Kageyama as well. Oikawa wondered how he felt about that but honestly he couldn’t be sure. If he went and got captured like they did, they’d get to see each other again before everyone died around them and they were left with only each other for the rest of time... He wasn’t satisfied with that. If he didn’t go along, if he and Chibi-chan went their separate ways like Oikawa had said, maybe Kageyama would lead their family some day. They’d give up Tooru for dead or worse and just give the crown over to him. 

He couldn’t be satisfied with that either. 

For months now he had been debating which path he’d rather have and for months he’d given up trying to choose. Being tied to Kageyama for the rest of time in a dungeon trapped by filthy humans all the while trying not to forget his friends or giving up everything he’d worked so hard for all because he wanted to prove that he should be the heir and that they shouldn’t even consider his younger cousin was unbearable to even consider. He almost laughed about it sometimes; the place his awful pride had gotten him was almost comical. 

Still, Bokuto, Akaashi and Iwaizumi- especially Iwaizumi- never blamed him for not being able to stop it, for not being fast enough or not being good enough... They never faulted him for not being enough.

“You guys...”

Iwaizumi stopped him. “Don’t start, Shittykawa. I just woke up and I don’t intend to spend my conscious hours hearing you moan and groan about things we can’t change. What’s done is done and that’s just it.” 

“We chose to come along, Oikawa-san.” Akaashi agreed quietly.

“You asked and we agreed. You didn’t make us and we’re just sorry we failed at defending you.” Bokuto agreed.

Oikawa slammed his fists against the walls, a surprisingly painful action for how little movement it was but then again any movement was painful now. “Don’t apologize to me.” He said through gritted teeth. “I won’t accept it. You’re not dead yet, you haven’t failed me at all.”

If he could have cried, he imagine he would have. His body was starting to really shut down now that the reality of time had set in. Three months they’d been here? Three months without blood of  _ any  _ kind, he didn’t even think that it was possible to survive this long without it. After all this time, he could feel his immortal body wasting away while his mind stayed caged with it. He remained chained to a wall with mere inches to move and only a deepening scar to remind him that while nothing changed inside this damned tower, the world outside marched on without them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize it only gets worse from here


	10. The Black Cloud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Only once Hinata had screamed and tore at the grass beneath his clenched hands and flew straight up until he almost passed out did he finally cry. He clung to Kageyama so tightly his fingers hurt, but no more than his lungs or his throat or his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry again

When Hinata woke up, there was nothing to suggest that this was going to be different from any other. The pictures of his friends hung around the walls, many of them new with everyone from Yachi and Kageyama to Daichi and Suga, the Little Giant poster still stood proudly, and his wings still ruffled around him, almost knocking over a few things as he tumbled out of bed. No, nothing was particularly different about today.

At least not quite yet.

As his feet touched down on the ground, Hinata spotted the dark haired vampire walking up to him, a seemingly stoic expression on his face, but he knew better. “You always look so bored.” He teased.

“Try to entertain me and maybe that will change.” He said letting a faint smile give him away. 

While Hinata’s parents struggled to accept that their son had “cursed flight”, school subjects got harder, and it became less and less sure that Oikawa and his team mates would ever return, the two of them always had each other. Cursed flight had worried him at first, but his wings had never failed him yet so he managed to get past his parents as well as schoolmates who whispered in the halls. 

The  _ flightless Shoyo?  _

_ Wow that certainly changed.  _

_ Yeah, but for better or worse? _

Being one of the few valkyries in their school made that part worse but Kageyama stuck through it all. He listened to Hinata complain, he taught him how to fly, he even promised to scare people into silence if he needed to. Being with him was the happiest Hinata had felt in a long time. There was a ease to their silences, a comfort in Kageyama’s presence weather on the ground or in the sky. It was like they had fallen in synch without either of them realizing it and sometimes Hinata caught himself wondering if Iwaizumi felt the same way with Oikawa. 

He caught himself wondering about Kageyama’s family--the part he hadn’t met yet because they could  _ all  _ be like  _ Oikawa  _ could they?-- but they never talked about it. Not that he hadn’t tried of course. As soon as the conversation started to drift that way, Hinata found himself talking about something else entirely. Maybe it was some sort of Vampire trick, but he never even found out if Kageyama was an only child or not.

To further falsify their feelings of ease, the school day passed as usual; not too fast, but not too slow. They walked together towards the front of the school before seeing a frantic Yachi stumbling down the hallway, pushing other people out of the which was so unlike her. Hinata almost didn’t recognize her. Behind the fairy came Tanaka, Asahi, Noya, Suga and Daichi, all lumbering towards them and nearly knocking the pair to the ground.

“Umm, are you okay?” Kageyama asked as Yachi finally stopped and tried to catch her breath.

She shook her head wildly with tears in her eyes and said “You.. need... to go... to town... now...” between heavy breaths. Daichi and Asahi pulled them both back down the hallway to the main entrance to the school where a terrifying sight met them. 

Rising from the east side of town was an immense cloud of smoke, mixing in the sky like a toxic cloud that blurred out even the sun. It seemed to be contained to that part of town, but there was so much smoke nothing would be saved from the looks of it. Before Hinata realized it, both he and Kageyama were running forward. He jumped and let his wings catch the air while Kageyama changed into a bat beside him. They had flown together so often now, they knew each other's movements almost as well as their own. 

Pushing his wings harder than he ever had before, it still felt like it had taken too long before they could confirm what Hinata truly feared. Curling into the black smoke, he hoped desperately that somehow it had survived. Somehow, against all odds maybe it was okay. He stopped above the building and angrily flapped his wings to blow the smoke away, only to have Kageyama nip at his ear, begging him to stop. More than smoke stung at his eyes as he followed the bat up and above the cloud.

They tumbled out of the sky and landed on a grassy hill, coughing and still choking. Hinata felt like he was going to throw up. He beat his fists into the ground while his head pounded against itself. Kageyama returned to normal and he knew better than to reach out to Hinata now. There was nothing either could do to put out the fire consuming his home.

 

Only once Hinata had screamed and tore at the grass beneath his clenched hands and flew straight up until he almost passed out did he finally cry. He clung to Kageyama so tightly his fingers hurt, but no more than his lungs or his throat or his heart. 

They were getting back on track. They were getting better, all of them. Even his father had started to accept him now that he’d gotten his wings, black or not. They could have been a  _ real _ , normal family.  And Natsu... Oh Natsu.

Hinata sobbed out her name and just as he did, Kageyama’s body reacted to someone approaching them. His head turned abruptly, almost baring his fangs before he noticed who it was. “Hinata...” He said softly into the other boy’s hair. “Look.”

The valkyrie finally tore his eyes away from Kageyama’s chest to see a soot covered, crying Natsu stumbling towards them. “Shouyo!” She wailed, falling to her knees. 

Hinata caught her up him his arms, careful of her wings which were partially charred and her arms which had a few burns along the outsides. She was covered black and crying and falling apart but she was alive. Natsu’s tears soaked the front of his shirt as he figured his own had done to Kageyama’s but he just held her closer, feeling her trembling body under his fingertips and knowing that while she was hurt, she was alive.

It felt like hours before Natsu spoke and neither of them knew how long it had been since either of them stopped crying. “Onii-chan... Mom and Dad...” Hinata tightened his arms around her which she seemed to understand. “And he took the day off to be home today.” She said quietly. 

Hinata looked around for Kageyama but didn’t see him anywhere. He couldn’t be sure how long they had been there, but he felt the ache more being alone. Gathering her in his arms, Hinata stood with Natsu wrapped around his torso. As he looked towards the clearing sky, Kageyama reappeared, looking at the ground as he approached. 

He looked into Hinata’s eyes and his heart broke a little at the dullness he found there. “I- I found this.” He finally mustered, pulling out the only surviving trinket from the Hinata household.

It was a simple arrow, but both of them recognized it. Hinata gripped Natsu closer to his chest as he felt her breathing slow to signal she’d fallen asleep. “They came after my family.”

“What are we going to do?” He asked. 

“We?”

“You think I’d let you do anything stupid or reckless without me?” Hinata could almost have taken it as a taunt or tease if this had been under normal circumstances, but for now there was no light undertone to the vampire’s words. 

Hinata reached out and took Kageyama’s empty hand in one of his own. “I have an idea.”

He nodded once. “What do we do about Natsu? She can’t come along.”

“I don’t want to leave her so soon but-”

“Wait, do you mean right now?” Kageyama asked incredulously.

“Well, as soon as possible! Kageyama that was my house, I can’t-”

“We’ll go as soon as we can,” he interrupted, settling a hand on the valkyrie’s face, “but not today.”

“Kageyama-”

“You can’t leave her that soon, you know you can’t.” 

He was right about that.

“We’ll get a mission for it tomorrow morning and that way we can get some extra supplies. They fund all the missions they hand out and we could use a bit of help.”

Hinata sighed and slowly rubbed Natsu’s back, careful not to hurt her wings or brush over any burns. “You’re right.” He finally said, sounding hollow.

It broke Kageyama’s heart to hear him sound so defeated. “I’ll be right here beside you, Hinata. Together we’re invincible, right?”

Hinata’s eyes hardened as they started on their way. “Right.”


	11. We Accept

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata shook his head while repeating strong protests against working on anything with the basilisk let alone his big mission. Tsukishima agreed adamantly about not working with Hinata or The King to which Kageyama got angry and started yelling.

Yachi offered them her home for however long they needed it. The siblings stayed with her that night knowing they had nothing but an arrow to point them to who had killed not only their family but other creatures as well. Yachi’s parents did all they could for the siblings and once he saw they were well taken care of, Kageyama went to pack for their new mission.

If they were denied, they were going anyways. They would get kicked out of school for leaving unauthorized, but Hinata couldn’t get the crumbling picture of his home out of his mind no matter what he tried. There was nothing that was going to stop him. 

The next morning, Kageyama met him in front of Yachi’s house and they left early to be at the school as soon as the doors would open; Yachi- who had slept on the floor near the couch Natsu occupied- wasn’t even awake once they’d left. 

The two of them spent the morning in silence that seemed so much heavier than ever before. The town was busier than they expected with everyone who’d survived the fire stocking up on supplies just as they were. It took much longer than they’d anticipated so by the time they made it to the school, they weren’t the first ones at the Mission’s Office like they were hoping.

They burst into Ukai’s office, surprising both themselves and the three who were inside. 

“If you want your Little Giant quest, you’re going to-”

Hinata gave Tsukishima a look that conveyed everything he didn’t have the words for. His anger, his determination, he unwavering resolve. The basilisk took an involuntary step back and Yamaguchi looked scared. 

“I no longer wish to seek out the Little Giant.” He said, now looking at Ukai. “At least not until a new task is finished. I wish to be granted a mission to find the humans who set fire to half the town yesterday afternoon.” 

“Humans?” He seemed surprised to hear it which only reinforced Hinata’s fear that they’d been targeting him.

“Yes, humans.” Kageyama said stepping forward. “We know because they’ve come here before.”

Ukai seemed to understand as he drew a deep breath. “You were there with Daichi and Suga weren’t you? I knew they were leaving something out, you could get detention again for something like this.”

“Sorry sensei, but detention threatening is going to work. I need to find these people. My little sister cannot go through life knowing these humans can attack at any time, I need to do anything I can to protect what little family I have left.” Hinata said firmly. “I need to go and I will even if I’m going on my own.”

“You’re not.” Kageyama said knocking the shorter boy’s shoulder with his own.

“I said that for dramatic effect, obviously you're coming with me.”

“Well then-”

“Back to the original topic if we could.” Ukai interrupted. “I will give you the quest.” Hinata and Kageyama were almost out of the room before he could call them back again. “If!”

The four students looked at him questioningly.

“If?” Hinata repeated.

“If... you take these two with you.” As he gestured to Yamaguchi and Tsukishima all of them reacted at the same time.

Hinata shook his head while repeating strong protests against working on anything with the basilisk let alone his big mission. Tsukishima agreed adamantly about not working with Hinata or The King to which Kageyama got angry and started yelling. Yamaguchi attempted to calm Tsukishima down but while the three yelled at each other he sighed and flapped his wings once, knocking them and a number of papers back a few feet and onto the floor.

“If you three could listen for a moment.” He said calmly. They just looked up at him from the floor so he continued. “I think this is a good idea. Tsukki and I came in undecided. We were going to get paired with anyone to do anything, but instead we landed what could become the most sought after quest of our time and you want to give it up?” He directed the last question to Tsukishima. “And you two, I highly doubt you have people better suited to travelling with you than a Fallen Angel. I can carry Tsukishima with me and I have powers in the air you don’t have, Hinata. Did you two even have a plan for who else to bring?”

“Anyone but him really.” Hinata muttered.

“Too bad. Because we accept.” Yamaguchi turned to Ukai. “We’ll be leaving momentarily. Please put the four of us down as a  _ team _ .”

 

Akaashi lifted his head up at the sound of the door opening. Iwaizumi’s limp body hung between the two guards as they dragged him to his cell. Bokuto was still asleep in the corner of his cell but Oikawa would no doubt be awake. They dropped him somewhat more gently than others had before and Akaashi had the faintest feeling he recognized one of them, though he couldn't be sure.

“They’re gone.” He said.

A loud exhale burst out of Oikawa’s mouth along with “Is he okay?”

Akaashi let out a long, painful stream of coughs before he could answer. “He’s still alive.”

“How are you Akaashi?” 

“The pneumonia is just about wearing off I think.” He said with a heavy sigh. “One or two more days and it’ll be something new.”

Before he could ask anything else, the doors opened again and a mix of voices and sounds of struggle filled their chamber. Two new doors opened and a gasp came from Akaashi and Bokuto’s cells. 

“Yaku!” Bokuto said in disbelief.

“Lev!” Akaashi said next.

“Who?” Oikawa strained again to see, knowing it was pointless.

“Akaashi! Where are we?” Said a new voice.

“Bokuto! You’re here too?” Joined another.

“Anybody willing to answer?” Oikawa complained.

“Little hard to do introductions on your behalf Oikawa, but guys that’s Oikawa Tooru and passed out down there is Iwaizumi Hajime.” Akaashi explained.

“The Grand King was caught by humans?” Asked the first voice.

“Shut up, Lev!” Said the second.

“That’s Yaku just now. He’s a forest sprite and Lev is the other he’s a Bigfoot.” Bokuto clarified.

“Wonderful. And yes, Bigfoot, we were caught but so were you so I don’t think you have much room to talk now do you?” He tried not to sound defensive but to a newcomer who had no idea what they’d suffered through the past few months... well Oikawa wasn’t about to apologize either.

“What happened to you to anyways?” Akaashi asked turning towards Lev.

“They’re picking us off, Akaashi!” Lev said turning pale. “They’re going to start getting a lot more. I heard them say something about Hinata and Kageyama-”

“They got my cousin?” Oikawa interrupted worriedly. Whoa he wasn’t used to that...

“No, they said they’re just now picking us off in small numbers since they’re gone. They got this mission and left just a few days ago with two other first years, a basilisk and a fallen angel.” Yaku explained.

“They’re going out to find the Little Giant I assume.”

“No, they’re actually looking for these humans. Last week they set fire to nearly half the city. Hinata lost his parents and everything, it was really awful. He’s determined to find this place.” Lev sounded scared and Oikawa realized he must only be a first year too.

His first instinct was to say they’d never be able to find this place. but he didn’t want to dash any hopes Lev may have hiding away even if he didn’t speak them aloud. He wished Iwaizumi was awake, he needed his best friend to help him get through this. He looked around the corner where he could just barely catch a glimpse of the siren’s chest rising and falling. Their time in here had made his body frail and thin.

“Hey, don’t worry much right now. You both better sleep while you can.” He said finally.

“While we can?” Yaku sounded apprehensive.

Akaashi coughed loudly then gasped for breath. “They’re not exactly accommodating.”

“Bokuto your arms....”

“And this is after a few days.” Bokuto agreed. “Oikawa is right. You both need to sleep.”

They settled into their cells and Akaashi started to wonder just how many cells there were in this tower. They were picking creatures out of the woods? How long then would it be before they were rescued? Would the humans just burn down the town to kill them all anyways? There were so many questions that ran through his mind that he couldn’t bring himself to ask aloud; not when Yaku and Lev had just showed up. Once you let go of your hope... well there was nothing else the four of them had anymore. 

Bokuto sat himself up with his back to the bars as Yaku and Lev attempted to make themselves more comfortable. He distantly remembered what it felt like to have a bed or a pillow or a blanket, but it had been so long ago he was almost just as sure he was imagining it. Odd how torture messed with your mind just as much as it did your body. That human was certainly good at it. They fell into their usual silence which told him just how scared Lev really was. Even though he only really knew Yaku and Lev was just a first year by the time they’d met, Bokuto could tell he was pretty talkative. He glanced over his shoulder to see their backs pressed to each other on opposite sides of the wall separating them like they could feel each other through it. A pang hit his heart as he wished Akaashi were close enough to hold. The elf looked so pale now, his cheeks and eyes sunken and his spine showing through his old, thin clothes. Bokuto wanted nothing more than to hold him, protect him from the rest of the world. He clenched his fists. 

Why? Why why why, he’d nearly driven himself mad repeating that question.


	12. This Was a Great Idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “They’re rounding us up like animals for a circus then a slaughter house.” Iwaizumi said between gritted teeth. He pulled his weakened body to the farthest end of the cell, knowing he wouldn’t be able to see the vampire but trying nonetheless.
> 
> “You always did have a positive outlook.” Oikawa said in an exhausted tone.

By the end of a week, Tsukki and Kageyama had stopped talking to each other completely. It had taken Yamaguchi’s powers to separate them but during that part the glasses that kept his deadly eyes under control flew off. Tsukki kept his eyes shut tight before he could petrify any of them. He’d had far too many nightmares about trapping his boyfriend forever in stone and he wasn’t about to let any of them come true.

“You two are going to have to talk eventually.” Hinata said plopping down next to Kageyama in the grass of a clearing. 

“I need to go get more food.” He said almost mechanically.

“Kageyama.” Hinata said, putting his hand on the vampire’s. “What is it about him that gets you like this? Maybe we could suggest a little separate exploring for a few days.”

Kageyama sighed and brushed the orange hair off Hinata’s forehead, leaving a kiss there. “I’ll be okay. It’s just his attitude and how he won’t stop calling me King all the time. He kind of reminds me of how Oikawa was right after my family announced my eligibility for the throne.”

“You still don’t want it?”

“Hell no.” He said without any hesitation. “I may have wanted it in the beginning but even then I think I was too young to realize what it was I really wanted. I wanted to be like him.” Slowly, his voice had gotten softer as his eyes fell to the grass as he ripped it up from the earth. “I wish I would have told him before you know. Maybe he wouldn’t have gone.” 

Hinata shook his head. “No, don’t say that. I can tell you mean he’s gone, well you know that’s not true. For one, Iwaizumi wouldn’t let him, and for two he’s been training to lead an entire family of Vampires for most of his life. He can’t be... He’s fine, I’m sure. Maybe being held for ransom?”

Kageyama didn’t say that if that were the case they would have made their demands by now. He knew Hinata was trying to help and it did feel good to get a little bit off his chest. “What about you?” He asked suddenly.

The valkyrie looked surprised. “What  _ about  _ me?”

“How are you. It’s only been a few days but you haven’t been crying or angry or anything since we left. You’re almost back to normal.”

Hinata hesitated, now looking at his shoes. “I don’t know honestly. I feel like a really terrible person for not feeling the right way. I should be angry and sad.... But I’m not. I was at first. Now though... I think I was more upset thinking I had lost Natsu then lost my home. Was it really a home? I can’t tell right now.” Hinata had almost forgotten he was talking to Kageyama now, lost in his train of thought. “My father and I were getting close to possibly fixing a few things, which should make me sad. But at the same time, there was so much we needed to fix and it had taken this long that I wasn’t really hoping for anything to change anyways. I almost feel neutral about it all. How terrible does that make me?” He finally looked up to Kageyama.

“I don’t think it makes you terrible at all.” He assured him. “I think it makes you confused because you just lost pretty much everything you’ve ever known. I don’t know what I’d do either.”

“Speaking of that... when am I ever going to meet your family?” Kageyama’s startled face prompted him to continue quickly. “I mean, not as your boyfriend or anything, obviously, but I want to at least be able to put a name and a face to who they are. You never talk about them, I just-”

“You can’t meet them. Ever.” Kageyama said firmly.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Ever. I can’t let you meet them. You can’t ever come over, you can’t know any members of my family and even you knowing Oikawa is a terrible mistake.”

“Mistake?” Hinata repeated, incredulously. “I’m sorry, what are you trying to stop here?”

“I’m trying to keep you  _ alive _ , you idiot!” Kageyama yelled, frustratedly.

“Maybe you should have thought about that before you kissed me then you dumbass!” Hinata shouted back, getting to his feet and storming off back into the trees to find Yamaguchi and Tsukki. 

“Trouble in paradise?” Tsukki asked as he stalked by.

“Shut up.” Hinata growled, deciding to keep moving. “We’re leaving. Now.” 

Behind him, they scrambled to gather up their equipment as Hinata pumped his wings and got himself up with the upper branches of the trees.

 

For most of that day, Hinata stayed quiet. He led them along, adjusting to anything Kageyama or Yamaguchi picked up to alter their course. They stumbled upon a small human town but found nothing to suggest they even knew about the attack to their city.

Tsukki wanted to do some harder investigating, but Yamaguchi refused to let him, pulling him along by the arm as they left before a messenger could tell anyone they were in the area. Hinata was getting worried about Natsu now, calmed only by the thought that Yachi was with her. Once they made camp for the night, Kageyama taking up the watch position like normal in a tree with the three of them at the base, Hinata found he couldn’t sleep. Not that that was any kind of new concept to him, but this time he wasn’t sure he could just go up to Kageyama like he normally did. 

The vampire swung backwards, his knees hanging onto the branch so he could get their face close enough to whisper. “Are you still upset with me?”

“Depends. Are you still an ass?”

“Probably. Are you still an idiot?”

“Probably.” Hinata said, sitting up. “I hate fighting with you.”

“Then don’t pick fights with me.” Kageyama said with a little smile. 

Hinata stuck out his lip. “You’re not going to take even a little bit of responsibility for that? I only got mad because you won’t trust me to handle my own life.”

Kageyama sighed. “Can we talk about this once we get back home?”

Hinata shook his head and laid back down, pulling his thin blanket over his shoulders and turning on his side. “Goodnight, Kageyama.”

“Night then, Hinata.”

 

Oikawa let out his pent up breath as the light fell off of his skin. It should really have been getting easier, but without any food or blood his healing time was only getting worse and worse so each morning seemed to hurt just a little bit more than the last.

In the cell Iwaizumi was locked in, a sudden gasp and heavy panting told Oikawa Iwaizumi was awake.

“Iwa-chan!” He called, almost forgetting his pain. Almost.

“Hey Oikawa.” He said softly. “Everyone else is actually sleeping?”

“Not everyone...” Oikawa went on to explain Lev and Yaku who joined them and who hadn’t been seen since late last night. 

“They’re rounding us up like animals for a circus then a slaughter house.” Iwaizumi said between gritted teeth. He pulled his weakened body to the farthest end of the cell, knowing he wouldn’t be able to see the vampire but trying nonetheless. 

“You always did have a positive outlook.” Oikawa said in an exhausted tone.

Iwaizumi strained more, suddenly getting an idea. Since they’d all been getting slowly starved- to the point he figured he could now go a week off of half a loaf of bread- he had slimmed down quite a bit. Without giving it much more thought, he squeezed as much of him as he could between the closest bars to Oikawa’s cell, finally seeing his best friend again for the first time in what felt like far too long.

He wished he hadn’t.

Oikawa had his eyes shut, breathing through the pain of the burn on his skin, his cheeks hugged tight to his bones, his eyes sunken into their sockets. His once curly hair hung limply around his forehead, growing down into his eyes. His hands were so pale Iwaizumi could see most of the veins under his skin, blue and purple like a pen had been dragged across his body. His lips were dry and cracked, his nose caked with blood from who knew how many nosebleeds due to exhaustion or starvation. Iwaizumi wanted to scream, he wanted to rip the bars out of his way and charge through every single human who’d even laid eyes on Oikawa Tooru.

Instead, he decided to give Oikawa a moment of peace. 

Iwaizumi pulled himself back into his cell and cleared his throat, aware that his voice hadn’t been used for singing since he woke up. Slowly, he hummed out a dull tune, one his mother taught him when he was young. 

Oikawa’s ears perked up. This was the first time he’d heard Iwaizumi sing since they’d been locked in here. “Iwa-chan, are you singing?”

Iwaizumi ignored him and changed the hum into soft words, slowly building into a song that always got him to fall asleep as a child. Vampires didn’t sleep and he’d never attempted it on Oikawa before, but he had no other ideas. Oikawa opened his mouth to speak again, but found himself overcome by a strange sensation. His eyes became heavy, his shoulder slumped. 

“Iwa-chan... what are you...”

“Sleep, Oikawa.” Iwaizumi said as a last line. His friend closed his eyes and experienced for the first time what it was to be asleep, detached from the world that chained him to the wall and the pain that had kept him grounded in that tower. 

Hearing the chains go slack made Iwaizumi smile just a little. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before.” He said to himself. 

Off to one side, the door opened and he spotted two new people, presumably Yaku and Lev, tossed into two other cells. Yaku seemed to be twitching as they let him in, his hands tied down by his sides. Iwaizumi saw the cuff around his neck was different from theirs, simple iron. If Yaku was some type of fairy, brownie, pixie, or sprite, that would be burning into his skin as badly as the sun on Oikawa. The guard with light pink hair uncuffed the collar and shoved Yaku down into the cell with a mumble that almost sounded like “sorry”.

Lev was being mostly supported by the other guard while one of his legs dragged loosely behind him like it had been pulled from it’s socket. He fell down into his cell and the two guards swept out, taking cautionary glances in on Akaashi and Bokuto. As if on cue, Akaashi’s body was wracked with a violent cough, one that eventually woke him as the guards left.

“Lev, Yaku, are you two alright?” He asked worriedly.

Yaku sounded jittery like he was waiting for something to jump out at him. “It’s all iron. The bars, that collar, the nails on the chair, the hot pokers, I can’t do that again!” He cried out.

Lev rolled to the edge of his cell and reached his long arms into Yaku’s. “We’ll get through this, Yaku.”

They laced their hands together and Iwaizumi flexed his fingers slightly, wishing Oikawa’s were settled in between his own. Both of their hands now were bony and thin, almost like skeletons. He punched the stone wall, shocked by the pain that shot up his arm. He couldn’t even throw a proper tantrum in the state he was in now. 

Before he could alert the two new prisoners to his presence, the door opened again. This time, he recognized the ones being led into the room at knife point.

“Daichi? Suga?” He said in complete disbelief. Who could ambush a demon?

“Iwaizumi!” Suga called before his cell door slammed shut. 

“You guys better be quiet in here.” The pink haired guard said without as much anger or malice in his voice as Iwaizumi would have expected. “Ushijima will come looking himself if you’re too loud.”

“Ushijima.” The prisoners repeated in unison. 

“Fuck all of you humans.” Iwaizumi growled.

“And keep that kind of talk under wraps.” The other guard said, dragging his sword along the bars of Iwaizumi's cell. He had tanned skin and hair that stood up a little on top. 

“Fuck. You. Humans.” Iwaizumi repeated.

Instead of responding, the guards left them to exchange stories. Suga had fallen into a devil’s trap and couldn’t get out when at least ten humans fell in on Daichi, leaving Suga useless to help. Once they’d subdued the gryffin, Suga put up as much of a fight as he could but within the trap his powers were reduced to nearly nothing. He found that his cell also had a trap carved into the stone to keep him secured. Daichi’s jaw was set rigidly like he was trying not to throw a fit and start screaming. Iwaizumi guessed he already knew just what good that was going to do him. 

“Is Oikawa...”

“He’s in here.” Iwaizumi said with a sigh. “I got him to go to sleep.”

“Sleep? But Vampires don’t-”

“They do when I tell them to.” He said, trying not to take too much pride in the fact that even after all this time he still had a persuasive voice.  _ After nearly five months _ ... the smile that tugged at his lips quickly fell with that sobering thought.


	13. Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know you not talking is getting a little weird.”  
> ~   
> “Where is the siren?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if you guys hate me it's not getting any better yet...

Hinata woke up to the sun in his eyes. Kageyama still sat above him in the tree, gazing out and listening intently. He glanced down as soon as he heard Hinata’s breathing shift and looked somewhat unsure of what to do. Instead of say anything, the valkyrie rolled over and saw that Yamaguchi was poking at the fire. Not even the fallen angel was very talkative that morning, and it was almost like they could all sense something looming ahead of them. Still, they had to forge ahead. If they didn’t Hinata would never be able to face Natsu. 

It wasn’t until later that afternoon that they realized not only were they being rather silent, but the forest and animals below them were too. They’d stopped for a break near a river when Hinata finally brought it up. “You have to have noticed that there’s nothing around here.”

Kageyama nodded slowly. “I still can’t tell why though.”

“We haven’t seen birds since yesterday.” Tsukishima agreed.

“There’s not even much scent of animals out there.”

Hinata glanced around them, hoping for something--anything--to pop out and prove them wrong. “This is a lot like that day huh?”

The vampire nodded again. “I’ve been thinking that too. And if that’s true, I’m not going to be able to sense if something is coming.” He looked at Hinata who seemed to blush ever so slightly. 

“Well if that means we’re getting close to a human village...” Yamaguchi hesitated.

The other three looked at each other before Hinata finally spoke. “That means we’re close to answers.”

“We’ll finish packing up here then.” Kageyama said to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. “You two scout out first.”

“Us?” The brunet asked. “But you’re the vampire! You can sense them before we could!” 

“No I can’t, they’ve found a way to cloak themselves.” 

“But-”

“I’m fine with that idea.” The basilisk said, grabbing his arm. “Let’s get out of here before we have to clean up after His Majesty.”

They left quickly after that under a hard glare from Kageyama. Once they were out of sight, he turned to Hinata who had begun picking up the remains of his lunch. “Hinata...”

“I know, I’m sorry about last night.” He said without turning back around. “But we need to keep moving, alright?”

Kageyama blinked then poked at one of his black wings. “You know you not talking is getting a little weird.”

“What do you want me to say?” He asked, turning to face the black haired boy. “That I’m totally fine with the fact that you don’t ever want to let me know anymore about you? That it’s cool if this is just where we are for the rest of our lives? That you don’t want your family to know about me or anyone else for that matter?” His hands were clenched and his wings quivered. 

To anyone else, Hinata would have yelled but it hurt to even get the words out in a normal volume. He’d tried ignoring that voice in the back of his head that told him Kageyama was hiding him because he was ashamed. That he’d made it up about having to protect him. He had tried to ignore it but after the vampire had been so rough about the subject yesterday, he couldn’t convince himself that he was wrong anymore.

Before Kageyama could do more than reach out his arms, Hinata launched himself into the sky, taking off after Tsukki and Yamaguchi. His arm fell back to his side as he cursed at himself for letting it sit for so long, leading his boyfriend to feel this way. A canteen fell into the river after he kicked it harder than he meant to and he watched it float down the river, aware he was going to have to go after it. 

“I’m an idiot.” He said aloud, taking off his shirt and climbing down to the water’s edge.

Part of him considered letting Hinata believe whatever story he’d made up in his mind. That way, there was no possible way anyone would find out and there was no real threat to his life. The other, bigger part of him won out however;  Kageyama was selfish. 

He wanted to be the one who Hinata could trust, he wanted to be the one who made him smile or called him a dumbass when he flew into a tree. He wanted to be there when Hinata found the Little Giant and he wanted to be there every day after that. Yes, Kageyama was selfish and this time he wanted to be a good part of Hinata’s life, a companion, a source of support, a driving force, and most of all... a better boyfriend. 

His hand wrapped around the bottle and he turned to go back upstream just as the world suddenly went black.

 

Oikawa’s eyes snapped open and he bared his fangs, biting out at something intoxicating in front of him. His senses returned to him as he realized he couldn’t get very far from the wall and that it was a human face that had woken him up. A cruel sneer spread across his face as he stood up again.

“Good you’re awake.”

Oikawa glared and felt the spike of adrenaline leave his body, making his limbs fall heavy in their shackles. Two guards stood behind the human who spoke, one with pinkish hair and the other with dark locks. They didn’t seem to be reveling in his pain the way their leader--the one he assumed was Ushijima--was. The door opened before Oikawa could spit out angry words that burned in the back of of his throat.

“Captain! We’ve got two more!”

“Kiyoko! Kenma!” Lev called out.

Oikawa blinked, anger quickly being replaced with fear and the gut twisting feeling of hopelessness. It was Suga speaking, a  _ demon  _ of all creatures. And he knew of the nymph Kiyoko of his same year in school. Shouldn’t she have been graduated by now? Was that how long they’d been in here? He couldn’t even tell how long he’d been asleep since Iwaizumi-

“Where is the siren?” He asked suddenly.

Ushijima just smiled as the three of them left the cell. Oikawa squirmed in his restraints until he could just glimpse in between the bars of the nearest cell, but there was no one in there, awake or otherwise. 

“Put him in here.” Ushijima was saying somewhere out of sight. There was a thud followed by mumbled, incoherent words. Next was a small sound of indignation as he assumed Kiyoko was thrusted into her own chamber. 

Once the door swung closed and he assumed all the humans had left, he leaned his head back on the wall. “How many fucking cells are even in this place.” He groaned.

“At least ten more.” Akaashi croaked. “Glad to hear you’re awake.”

“How long was I... asleep?”

“Only about two days. I was surprised since you never have before, I started wondering if you’d ever wake back up.”

“Well if the sunlight didn’t do it and it wasn’t for that  _ human _ , I might not have.” 

“Is that Oikawa Tooru?” Suga asked.

“Suga right?”

“And Daichi.” Daichi added. 

“Where is Iwa-chan?”

They all hesitated before Bokuto finally spoke. “We’re not sure.”

“What do you mean?” Oikawa had only asked the question to hear the ‘other room’, ‘out’, or ‘with them’ as he normally did but now that he didn’t he was fighting down a panic. “What did they do to him?”

Kiyoko finally spoke up. “He’s the siren right?”

“With dark skin and brown, spiky hair and brown eyes and big shoulders and arms and-”

“I saw him.” She said slowly. “He’s outside.”

Suga made a motion for her to stop, worried about what was surely coming next. Daichi gripped the bars in front of him, Kiyoko just across the narrow hallway, beckoning for her to whisper it to him. Oikawa heard the ends of words but couldn’t make out more than single syllables. Suga gasped and his nails dug into the palm of his hand.

“Someone better tell me right now what the hell happened to him.” He said through gritted teeth.

Suga shook his head, but Kiyoko took a deep breath and spoke just loud enough for Oikawa to hear, though in the sudden silence her words rang like a gong, echoing off the walls. “Iwaizumi was strung up on a stake outside the tower. He had the words “Abandon your hope here” carved into his chest and torso. He didn’t seem to be awake when we passed, but...”

‘But I hope he’s still alive’ didn’t seem to be enough to restore the broken silence that followed her words. 


	14. Cousins Reunion... Yay...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Get out of here, cat!”
> 
> “That’s rude.”
> 
> “...Yamaguchi.”
> 
> “...Yes?”
> 
> “Did that cat just call me rude?”
> 
> “Yes...”

Hinata angrily stomped his foot. “What the hell is taking so long?”

Tsukki tossed another rock at the tree he was leaning on. “So close.”

“Tsukki.”

“Am I the only one worried here?”

“Yes.”

“Tsukki!”

“You can go home you know.” He grumbled, turning to look at the basilisk. 

“Who would be here to throw rocks at you then?” He said tossing another, bouncing it off his shoulder. “Two points.”

“That should only be one.” Yamaguchi disagreed.

“I’ll try again.”

“I’m serious you two!” Hinata said deflecting the next projectile with the edge of his wing.

“Wing counts as five.”

“That’s so not how that works.”

The valkyrie sighed. “I’m going to look for him again.” He ascended above the trees, scanning the area around them for the third time since they’d landed. Maybe he’d gone back after all like Tsukishima had said. They  _ had  _ gotten into a fight, maybe Kageyama had just given up. However, he was good at denying that little voice in the back of his mind for longer than a few hours so he stayed in the air, hoping for any sign of the dark haired boy who may or may not still be his boyfriend.

He kind of hated himself for making such a big deal out of it then just flying off, but it had all been piling up in his mind lately and honestly what could have been so bad that he couldn’t even  _ ask  _ about his family without getting shut out? They were going to have a long talk after he slapped that pale face of his.

With that sweep of the surrounding area proving to be unsuccessful as well, he gently swooped back down to where Yamaguchi was staring a fire. He explained that Tsukki had gone to find more firewood as Hinata stared at the small flames.

“I’m sorry about earlier.” The brunet said.

“It’s okay.” Hinata mumbled back.

“Not just for today but for this whole trip. I know you two were going to do it alone and Tsukki can be hard to get along with for some people... I guess I’ll apologize for forcing us onto the mission with you then.”

“You two have been really helpful though. I’m glad for that at least. We’d be down a lot more food now if you two weren’t here now that we lost a pack and canteen.”

Yamaguchi fanned the fire gently with his wings. “I hope I’m wrong... but there might be another reason Kageyama is gone.”

“I’m going to go help find some firewood.” Hinata said suddenly. He rose to his feet and wandered off into the woods, trying to put a physical distance between him and the idea he’d refused to give any thought to.

Somewhere ahead of him, he’d heard a sound that was close to the last one he ever expected: a rooster caw. Only once and it was abruptly cut off, but that was definitely what it was. He stopped midway to picking up a branch, debating whether or not to go after it since it was the first creature they’d heard since last night, but before he could there was a sudden rush of air past him that knocked him over.

A figure wound it’s way through the trees as Hinata sat up. “Yamaguchi?”

He left the branch where it was and charged after him, finding the fallen angel in a clearing with a dead rooster at his feet. His wings where shifting restlessly and his hands were on his face, muffling the sounds of sobs coming from his mouth.

“Yamaguchi...” Hinata edged forward. “What happened?”

“They got him.” He said hollowly. “Tsukki. They got Tsukki too.”

Hinata looked down at the dead animal. “How do you know that?”

“Basilisks have a major weakness. Other than getting too cold, if they hear a rooster caw it could kill them. That’s why we don’t have any in town, that’s why Tsukki can’t leave town unless someone is with him.” He turned sharply and grabbed Hinata by the shoulders. “It was only once right?” He asked desperately.

Hinata nodded, unable to speak to the sad, broken brown eyes that searched his face. Yamaguchi loosened his grip until his hands fell down by his sides. 

“I know you don’t want to accept it... but now I’m almost certain they got Kageyama too.”

He swallowed and nodded. “So we’re going to get them back.” The edge in his voice let on how nervous he was, but Yamaguchi straightened up.

“We have to come up with a plan.”

There was a rustling off to Hinata’s left and that turned sharply, ready to attack the next thing they saw. Yamaguchi stuck out his hand once the creature revealed itself, narrowly stopping Hinata from attacking the black cat that slipped out of the bushes. 

They sighed before Hinata tried shooing it away. “Get out of here, cat!” 

“That’s rude.”

“...Yamaguchi.”

“...Yes?”

“Did that cat just call me rude?”

“Yes...”

As they watched, the cat’s body grew, elongating and before long there was a person standing before them--just as lacking of clothing as he was before. “Would you happen to have a spare change of clothes?”

 

Oikawa’s wrists were caked with dried blood the next time prisoners were dragged in. Since they’d just gotten Kiyoko and Kenma the day before, all of them were startled to see anyone return so early and even more shocked to see who it was.

Tsukki was lead in with a blindfold over his eyes, his glasses having been tossed away before they’d reached the tower. He was put in a cell just beside Kenma who remained in the same rigid position as when he’d arrived. The glowing red amulet around his neck had cut off not only his ability to perform magic, but his ability to move as well. 

The second prisoner took three humans, garlic and a heavy wooden stake following close behind him to get him into the cell.  _ Oikawa’s  _ cell. The cousins remained silent in shock of finally seeing the other again. Oikawa was thin and so much paler than before, Kageyama’s eyes hurt just looking at him. His once deep brown eyes were tinged with red, a sure sign of his growing hysteria at being cut off from blood this whole time. Kageyama had hardly changed, save for the bruising under his jaw and cut above his eyebrow. Even his vampire blood was starting to smell good to Oikawa.

The guards slowly left and behind them came Ushijima. “Well well two vampires. Imagine my luck!”

Oikawa glared hard at Ushijima, trying to ignore the thirst clawing at his throat. He felt his teeth sharpen to points but he didn't open his mouth, unwilling to give him the satisfaction like last time.

“Where is Iwaizumi?” Kageyama asked. 

Ushijima turned his attention to the younger cousin. “You missed him on your way in? I guess the garlic worked better than I thought. You must not be as strong as this one.” He said jerking his thumb over his shoulder to Oikawa. “That may just work out well for me.”

With that ambiguous threat, he swept out of the room. He waited until his fangs had retracted before finally speaking to Kageyama. “What did you do, Tobio-chan?” He meant to sound patronizing but it came out rather sad, revealing his true feelings. He had come to the decision that he would  _ hate _ if Kageyama fell to the same fate as the rest of them only to have it come true. 

“I was alone and they ambushed me.” He sighed. “How do they do that?”

Oikawa shrugged, feeling his shoulders ache with the small movement. “I've given up trying to figure that out.”

“We have to get out of here.”

“What a great idea, oh wait don’t you think we tried that?” He snarled, suddenly angry. That's all they  _ did _ the first two months they were here. They tried wearing down the stone around the bars but without anything but a shirt and pants to each of them there wasn’t much progress made that way. Oikawa had tried pulling himself free of the shackles but the cell was created to weaken him. Bokuto tried slashing the bars in his owlman form, but they were too thick and his claws too brittle. Iwaizumi tried coaxing guards in to release them but no one came. 

“That’s not what I meant.” He amended, dropping his eyes. “Hinata is out there, now only with a fallen angel, trying to find this place.”

Oikawa scoffed. “Well then you’ll learn to feel my pain. Try seeing him broken and beaten down, dragged in unconscious for days or a week for months on end then you can cry to me about your precious flightless valkyrie.”

“He’s not flightless.” Kageyama bit back.

“Whatever.” Oikawa wasn’t going to let him know he was actually a little curious about that piece of information; Tobio wouldn’t be getting off the hook that easy.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence and realized everyone had been listening in on their conversation.

“Well then now that you two are done quarreling, someone want to tell me where the hell we are?” Tsukki huffed.

“Oh right you can’t see.” Kageyama remembered.

“There’s blood dripping from the walls.” Bokuto said.

“And slime covering the ground.” Lev added.

Akaashi bit back a laugh. “Both of you-”

“And your cell is only two feet tall.” Suga interrupted him.

The basilisk growled. “You can all go ahead and-”

“Okay okay let’s take it down a notch.” Daichi settled them. “It’s a tower. Oikawa and Kageyama are in the farthest cell, Iwaizumi used to be in the one next to them, Bokuto and Akaashi are in the two closer to us, then Yaku and Lev, Me and Suga, Kenma and Kiyoko and you. There’s at least nine more cells from where we can see.”

Kiyoko cut him off abruptly with a long string of coughs. “Sorry.” She wheezed. “I’m dehydrated.”

Tsukki pulled against the ropes binding his hands behind him but they were too thick. The blindfold was really starting to get on his nerves, but he supposed he couldn’t take it off for fear of petrifying one of the others. “So torture then?”

Suga nodded sadly before remembering he couldn’t see. “Yeah. Kiyoko being kept out of water, me being stuck in a devil’s trap, Kageyama and Oikawa being starved from blood-”

“Whoa wait what?” Kageyama piped up.

“What’d you think? They were going to hand out pints to keep us comfy?” Oikawa asked.

“That’s going to be my torture.” Tsukki groaned. “Listening to you two all damn day.”

“You know basilisk, I didn’t ask for you two to get yourselves caught. I didn’t think this place could have gotten any worse but then look who they dragged in.” Oikawa pointed his glare at Kageyama who still didn’t look him in the eye. “My upstart little cousin.”

Before he could fire back, Kageyama was cut off by Ushijima slamming the door open and sweeping back down the hallway followed by team of guards. Of the soldiers following behind him, none of them were the ones they’d come to know which lead them all to believe this was a very different sort of mission.

“Cousin to the heir  _ and  _ Flightless Shoyo’s companion? Well we hit the jackpot.” Ushijima said as he unlocked Oikawa and Kageyama’s cell. “I had a feeling there was something special about you.”

He let the guards behind him surge forward and securely manage him out of the cell, heavily laden with any protection they could think of. Oikawa’s teeth sharpened again and a snarl ripped from his lips but this time it was a desperate attempt at an attack rather than blind thirst, though he couldn’t help but feel that as well. Kageyama had once been his responsibility, his friend, his family. It hurt him more than he expected to see such fear in his eyes or sounds of struggle as they lead him out of view.


	15. Unexpected Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Get out of here bird, we’re waiting for someone.” Hinata shooed.
> 
> “Shut up, it’s me.” Kuroo grumbled in response.

Hinata shook his head again. “I still don’t understand.”

“You’re hopeless.” Yamaguchi sighed. “He was with Kenma when someone attacked him and since he was in cat form, he avoided getting captured as well. Easy enough?”

Kuroo rolled his eyes. “The longer this takes the longer Kenma is with those humans and I’d like to keep that to as much of a minimum as possible. I’m sure you two feel the same?”

Hinata agreed. “Alright alright. Well Catman-”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Catboy?”

“Do you want to be flightless again?”

“Fine, well  _ Kuroo _ , if you’re so ready to go charging in there, why don’t you go ahead and tell us you’re brilliant plan,” the valkyrie said, settling his chin on his hands as if he were a child listening intently to a fairy tail.

“Can we leave him here?” Kuroo asked Yamaguchi.

“Sadly no.”

He straightened. “There’s only three of us as it is now. Even if we got to them, there’s bound to be a number of problems we’d encounter. Whatever we do, we need to do it without pulling much attention to ourselves and your wings really make that a problem.” 

Hinata and Yamaguchi glanced sideways at each other and had to agree.

“So.” He said clapping his hands together. “That means we need to get closer before we make much more of a plan, but if I can get to a guard, my shapeshifting should be enough to get me past at least the guards which is the first obstacle.”

“You can turn into people?” Yamaguchi asked.

In response, Kuroo’s body shuddered as it transformed, shrinking, sprouting wings, and changing color until he suddenly looked almost identical to Hinata. Even Hinata had a hard time finding a flaw in his mirrored face. “Well I guess that part should go off without a hitch.” 

 

Hinata wanted to slam his head into the tree he stood behind.

“Perfect. Why not?” He mumbled. There was a swipe at his calves as Kuroo shushed him. “I will kick you, cat.”

This time Yamaguchi was the one who shushed him. They all turned back to the scene in front of them. Guards swarmed what looked like a village-turned-base with a tower sticking up out of the middle. There didn’t seem to be a single civilian, but the soldiers were well fed and seemed to have their fair share of ale. 

“This may be a bit more difficult than I thought...” Kuroo sighed. “However, if you two circle around high enough they shouldn’t be able to notice you. Go back into the forest-- _ far _ back-- and go as high as you can. Hover until I can give you some kind of sign then land on top of that tower. The quicker the better, but don’t slam down in case there’s more inside.”

Hinata nodded even though he was pretty sure they were still going to get caught. “What are you going to do?” 

Kuroo stretched his feline body and wound his way through the bushes. “I’ll meet you there.”

“Lucky.” The valkyrie grumbled.

“Lucky? He has no means of escape.” Yamaguchi pointed out as they turned and hurried away from the human town.

Kuroo tried to avoid attention without looking like he was trying to avoiding attention. He crept along while trying to get a good estimate on just how many humans were a part of this city as well as finalizing what they were going to do once they made it into the tower.  _ If  _ they made it in that is. 

Once he made it close enough to the base that he was ready to signal Hinata and Yamaguchi, he stopped short, stuck in absolute horror. He remembered Iwaizumi from before they’d left on this mission: thick, dark hair, strong shoulders and arms, a small frown constantly at his lips except in the rare occasion Oikawa made him laugh and bright eyes like emeralds. Now the sight of him was almost enough for Kuroo to lose concentration and turn back into himself. 

Iwaizumi’s head hung low and his hair had grown out, but not enough to cover the deep set words that had been carved into his body. His spine poked through his skin in a way that looked painful and his arms looked weak and fragile. Kuroo almost threw up just thinking about the pain he must be in. Instead of losing his lunch though, he crept forward and scratched at the post, wary not to attract anyone else’s attention but the siren’s. 

When he didn’t react, Kuroo decided to signal the two still circling and change the plan a little; Iwaizumi wouldn’t last much longer out here. As he quickly realized, the two figures he saw distantly circling weren’t in fact a fallen angel and valkyrie, but two buzzards waiting for the humans to cut the ropes which were the only things left holding Iwaizumi upright. Eventually he did get his sun reflected signal up to his companions and they dropped to the rook without being seen. Up there, they wouldn’t really be able to do much so Kuroo shook his body and turned into a small bird, hoping no one had happened to look over and see. 

Hinata and Yamaguchi were crouched low when he landed.

“Get out of here bird, we’re waiting for someone.” Hinata shooed.

“Shut up, it’s me.” Kuroo grumbled in response. “Listen, that’s Iwaizumi down there-” he gestured with one wing “-and we need to get him out before we even try to get inside.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Yamaguchi asked, peeking just over the side. “There are way too many soldiers out around here and he looks too weak to run.”

“Which is why we need to get him down. If you still have my clothes, I have a potion Kenma made a while ago that should do the trick just to get him inside where Kenma can really help him. Also, if I can get one of those guards, I can become him and you two make a distraction while I get him down.”

Hinata blinked. “That-”

“Would be a great idea.” Someone interrupted him. They turned sharply to see two guards behind them, one with pink hair and the other with dark curls. 

“However we see an issue.” The first stated. 

Before the others could react, they’d pinned Yamaguchi to the tower with one sword, Hinata with the other, and had Kuroo trapped in the brunet’s hands. “Listen, we want to help.”

“Well now why is it that part of me doesn’t really believe you.” Hinata glared. Suddenly from beneath them came a blood curdling scream, one of so much pain that even the guards looked like they’d never heard the likeness. Hinata fell to his knees, his face going pale. “Kageyama...” He whispered.

“You’re the valkyrie.” The brunet said sadly, pulling his sword up and letting Hinata’s shirt go. “The vampire, Kageyama... you’re not going to like what they’re doing to him.”

To Hinata, his words sounded a mile away. The scream echoed in his mind, freezing his blood in his veins and making his brain short circuit. Then a sudden anger flared inside him and that helpless panic was replaced with a powerful fury. 

Both of the soldiers had to hold him back from flying into the tower unarmed and without a shred of a plan. They struggled while Kuroo turned back into a cat, ready to attack one before realizing they weren’t attempting to use their weapons or cause Hinata any harm. 

“Hinata, Hinata stop they’ll only hurt him more!” Yamaguchi cried out, ripping the sword out of the tiles and freeing himself, poking a spot on the valkyrie’s back that he knew would cause his wings to seize up. Hinata fell backwards under the humans’ weight and glared back at Yamaguchi who held up his hands. “I had to! You’ll get yourself killed!”

Kuroo sighed. “Explain yourselves.”

The pink haired one introduced himself as Hanamaki and his friend as Matsukawa. “We’re humans, sure, but we don’t want this. We joined this makeshift army to try and stop it from the inside. If we have you create a distraction to the east side of this tower where we will soon be taking over guard, we can direct most if not all guards that way while you umm, bird-cat?, can get the siren.”

Kuroo frowned--or at least they assumed he did, they really couldn’t tell right now--but nodded. “It would seem we have no choice wouldn’t it.”

“There are two others as well.” Matsukawa said. “Both younger, but both ready and willing to help us out. They’ll be inside which will certainly help.”

Kuroo shifted back into a bird while the soldiers showed Yamaguchi and Hinata how they would be getting into the tower once they let them in. He flew down and circled a few buildings looking for a good cause of alarm until the two guards took their positions. With any luck, things would go according to plan and they would be able to slip into the tower with no issue.


	16. Rescue Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Can I push him down the stairs from the top?” Iwaizumi asked.
> 
> “We may need him to get out.” Kuroo reminded him as they began to climb the stairs.

Naturally, they were very wrong. Kuroo’s first distraction wasn’t nearly big enough to cause a scene, the second was too far away, and the third didn’t frighten nearly enough people. Only when he changed into a deer and rampaged his way through a bar did the guards start paying attention. 

Once Matsukawa and Hanamaki directed the majority of the soldiers to that distraction, Kuroo turned back to an inconspicuous bird and flew over to Iwaizumi who started to stir. Kuroo hurried to get him down while Yamaguchi and Hinata picked off anyone who approached them. 

He caught the siren on his back after turning into a deer again and Hanamaki met him at the door with Matsukawa bringing up the rear. That part had gone fine until they were met with guards charging down the stairs at them. The good news was the base of the tower was small enough to inhibit the guards’ movement, especially with a deer in the room. The bad news was the base of the tower was small enough to inhibit  _ their  _ movement, especially with a deer in the room.

Kuroo knocked away as many as he could, not letting a single one get near Iwaizumi who groaned in pain anytime he moved too suddenly. From behind the soldiers, came a flurry of black feathers and soon Yamaguchi stood with the rest at his feet.

“Come on! Hinata is trying to find the others!” He urged as Hanamaki helped slide Iwaizumi to the floor. The siren frowned and attempted a swing at the human, but Yamaguchi help him back while Kuroo poured the vial he took from his pocket into Iwaizumi’s mouth. Matsukawa barricaded the door.

After he swallowed, he blinked and looked more alert already. “Is there any reason you only chose to put your pants on?” He asked.

“Good it worked. This thing only gives you the feeling of being okay. Your body is totally shot and if you move the wrong way you’re going down, but we need you on your feet.” Kurro said pulling him up. “This is the cavalry, my friend.”

“And... these two?” He gestured to the two guards.

“‘These two’ just saved your ass.” Hanamaki reminded him.

“So that was a yes.” Matsukawa clarified.

“Great why the hell not.” The siren grumbled. 

“Can we keep moving please?” Yamaguchi said, already moving up the stairs. “Hinata’s already looking for the others.”

“I know where they are, trust me.” Iwaizumi said striding forward, nearly tripping over the first step. “Third floor in the left corridor. Huge lock on the door warded against almost everything.”

“Except one of these.” Hanamaki said holding up his key. “Let’s get a move on people. I mean.... Things?”

“Can I push him down the stairs from the top?” Iwaizumi asked.

“We may need him to get out.” Kuroo reminded him as they began to climb the stairs. While Iwaizumi was mostly held together but whatever potion Kuroo had given him, it was unlikely that it would last very long with the severity of his wounds. There was only so long a siren could go trying to hold back the amount of blood he lost when he couldn’t really feel it.

  
  


Oikawa held his breath when Ushijima came back. He was in a rage already, the smell of human blood would just make him lose his mind without really being able to do anything. Kageyama hung between two other guards which struck him as odd since they’d left with many more. His cousin was being dragged along, blood dripping from his mouth and nose but otherwise he looked okay.

Ushijima pushed Kageyama down, not even bothering to lock him back up to the opposite wall.

He laughed manically as he retreated down the stairs, that being the only sound that anyone heard except for the scuttling as they tried to get a peek into their shared cell. The other prisoners strained to see him, even the ones who knew they couldn’t. Oikawa let out a loud exhale and breathed back in just as Akaashi screamed out a warning. 

It was like he had stumbled into the most mouthwatering feast of his life after nearly starving. His eyes immediately turned red, his teeth sharpened, and it was almost too late before he realized he’d nearly bit his own cousin. Kageyama had luckily pulled back just in time, bumping his head against the wall in his haste and the look of pure terror bringing Oikawa back to reality. His blue eyes were wide and fearful, bordering on tears. 

“Oikawa, it’s Kageyama!” Akaashi cried, reaching out to him around the wall that separated them but unable to reach even his hand. 

Oikawa blinked and took in almost too much at once. Kageyama was afraid. Kageyama was afraid of  _ him _ . He’d almost bitten him. He’d almost...

“What did he do to you?” He struggled out, trying to force his body back to normal.

Kageyama’s hands shook as he looked down at them. Slowly, he pulled back the collar of his shirt where Oikawa saw a single puncture wound like the kind a needle would make. The tears in his eyes looked too afraid to fall. Once he felt his teeth return to normal--though his eyes remained red--he shook his head. “No. No, no there’s no way he could-”

He was cut off by a loud noise outside the main door. A fumbling with keys and the sound a few people bursting into the room alerted them all to their new company. Those who were sleeping woke abruptly, Tsukki could only listen to hear who it was this time, and Kenma remained frozen in place, unable to even glance over. Yamaguchi helped the four soldiers--Hanamaki had quickly introduced Kunimi and Kindaichi as they’d ran up the stairs fending off others--and they soon got the door barred, only hoping it would buy them enough time to get everyone out.

The four creatures turned to their friends who were desperately reaching out to them, tears in their eyes or streaming down their cheeks, cutting through blood and dirt and grime. The soldiers started opening cells, breaking demon traps, taking off enchantments and letting everyone out, making for a touching reunion for them all. 

There was a lot of kissing, hugging, and crying but really all Iwaizumi and Hinata cared about was the last cell down the narrow hallway. The siren held his hand out to slow Hinata, unsure of what state they would find Kageyama in once they reached him.

“Hajime!” Oikawa called out, straining against his shackles. 

“Tooru!” He gathered the courage to reach the cell and take in again just how much damage had been done to the person he loved most in this world. 

“Hajime...” Oikawa said with eyes welling with tears. “You... your chest...” He couldn’t even talk without his voice breaking like Iwaizumi’s heart as they took in just how broken they each were.

“Hey remember what I said? I won’t spend my conscious hours listening to you moan and groan.”

The vampire gave a weak smile. “So rude, Iwa-chan.”

“Not to interrupt but can I please see my boyfriend now?” Hinata asked.

Iwaizumi finally looked over to the corner of the cell where and unconscious Kageyama lay in a heap. “Is he-”

“Let Chibi-chan see him...” Oikawa said slowly. “This is something he just needs to see for himself.”

Hinata’s eagerness to see him again suddenly abandoned him.  _ That scream _ . He knew it was Kageyama, even if he’d never heard him make it before he just knew.  _ And look what they did to everyone else in here _ . Yamaguchi was desperately trying to warm Tsukishima because him being cold blooded was nearly a death sentence at night in this tower, Kenma couldn’t stand on his own two feet from a lack of proper blood flow for so long, and Kiyoko looked like she’d aged 50 years because of how dried out she’d been. He was scared to see someone he cared so much about be reduced to anything like that.

And yet, he found the strength to move forward, glancing between the bars at his raven haired boyfriend. Hanamaki opened the door, avoiding eye contact with Hinata as he did so. The valkyrie was rooted in place for a moment before he slowly moved forward. Kageyama’s head lolled to the side, his nose and mouth were bloody, and he looked so  _ different _ ....

“Is he...” Hinata couldn’t even strangle out the words.

As he knelt down, Kageyama stirred. His bright blue eyes flickered open as he took in the sunshine falling in behind Hinata’s his black wings twitching in agitation. His boyfriend had really come to save him. Then he remembered just why those tears would be falling down Hinata’s cheeks right now.

He dropped his gaze quickly, trying to fight back his own tears. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY OKAY


	17. What an Odd Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Is there another way out?”
> 
> “No.” Mattsun said slowly.
> 
> There was a loud crash from behind them as together, the other creatures burst a hole in the side of the tower.
> 
> “Nevermind.” Hanamaki amended.

_ Human _ .

It was an odd feeling.

A weakened, broken feeling.

Kageyama wanted nothing more than to disappear from the world. He was nothing now, useless and hopeless and-

“Hey.” Hinata said, sniffing but sounding demanding. “Get up and come here.” Kageyama slowly lifted his eyes to see the valkyrie holding out his arms. “Come here and hug me you idiot.” He said with a crack in his voice. 

Hinata didn’t let him even attempt to follow those directions before he fell to his knees and threw his arms around him, nearly pulling them both to the ground. Kageyama buried his head into Hinata’s neck, shaking more from fear than he ever had before.

“You had me worried, Bakayama.”

“I’m sorry.” He said, barely able to hear his own voice which was raw and sore from screaming out in agony. Just hearing it made both of them cling tighter to each other.

“You’re okay.” The valkyrie said, rubbing Kageyama’s back. “You’re alive and I’m here, you’re going to be okay.”

Mattsun moved to unlock Oikawa’s shackles before the vampire pulled away sharply. “No! No, don’t unlock me. I’m drained of blood right now. I would end up drinking you all.” He turned his head sadly to Iwaizumi. “You guys need to get out of here. You can’t bring me with you, take them and get out.”

Iwaizumi dropped to the ground in front of him, but the way he suddenly pulled away made the siren refrain from reaching out. “I will not leave you behind, you idiot. I followed you in here and I will follow you out.” He turned to Mattsun and Hanamaki. “Is there another way out?”

“No.” Mattsun said slowly.

There was a loud crash from behind them as together, the other creatures burst a hole in the side of the tower. 

“Nevermind.” Hanamaki amended.

“We’re going to lose the door!” Kindaichi called.

“Good!” Iwaizumi growled. “We are getting the fuck out of here.” He took Oikawa’s face in his hands. “Listen to me again.” He ordered. “Everyone else plug your ears.”

Iwaizumi started singing his lullaby once he knew everyone had their ears covered. He poured out as much emotion as he could which wasn’t very hard. He was sad because Oikawa’s eyes looked as though they would be stained red for the rest of his life after so much bloodlust. He was angry because they had been locked in here so long, he had even begun to forget what he looked like. He was disturbed because of the faces he saw when he’d looked for anyone with their ears uncovered. He was hurt because this was a senseless act of violence upon them as creatures at the hands of humans. 

Those emotions poured from his mind to his voice and flooded over Oikawa, filling him with a sudden peace. His eyes closed and for a moment Iwaizumi could imagine the vampire back to his normal self; happy, annoying, egotistical, prideful, strong, and powerful. Then that moment passed as he unlocked his thin, pale arms from the shackles above his head.

“Let’s go.” He said, trying to hoist his boyfriend over his shoulder. The siren fell, a sudden pain flaring up on his side. He cried out in pain and Kenma was at his side. “It’s wearing off. We need to leave now.”

“I can carry two.” Daichi offered.

“I can carry one.” Hinata said, standing and pulling Kageyama to his feet.

“I can carry two if I get it right.” Kuroo added.

“I can only take one as I am now.” Bokuto sighed.

“I can take three plus Tsukki.” Yamaguchi said from the door, still straining with effort.

“I don’t have anymore of what I gave you, Iwaizumi, so Yaku and I can’t carry anyone.” Kenma said slowly. “Two of us have to stay behind.”

“Easy enough.” Hanamaki said.

“We’re staying.” Mattsun finished.

“No!” Kindaichi and Kumi cried out, nearly slipping on their hold on the door.

“You two are too weak to stay behind.” Mattsun said, pushing Kunimi away from the door. 

Hanamaki shoved Kindaichi aside and took his place. “You need to leave now. They’ll be ready with arrows and any projectile they can get their hands on. You need to leave now.” He said to Yamaguchi.

“We’re not going to abandon you!” Kunimi insisted.

Hanamaki smiled slightly. “You think they’ll ever listen to us, Mattsun?”

“Never on their lives.” 

Once everyone had changed and secured themselves for the flight out, Yamaguchi pulled Tsukki’s arms over his head and had him secure them around his neck, still holding fast against the door. “As soon as I let go...”

“We know. Get them out of here.” Hanamaki repeated.

Yamaguchi nodded once, quickly pulling away from the door and quickly grabbing onto the others. He could hear the door burst open behind him as they took to the sky, dodging projectiles just like they’d warned.

They climbed higher and higher above the town as sounds of clashing metal and guttural noises eventually faded into the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay they're leaving the tower everyone is fine right?
> 
>  
> 
> Yes....
> 
>  
> 
> Completely fine....
> 
>  
> 
> Nothing to worry about....


	18. I Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We owe him.” Kindaichi agreed.
> 
> “You owe him?” The others asked in disbelief.

It was a silent flight until Suga suggested they land. He pointed out a break in the trees and everyone agreed, specifically those who had been locked away the longest. They settled to the ground and Akaashi was the first to speak what most of them were thinking.

“I almost thought I’d never see it again.” He sounded choked up even though he’d gotten over his last sickness almost two days ago.

Bokuto leaned against him, brushing his dark hair away from his eyes. “Can you see it under there?”

They smiled and held each other, taking in the view and smell of the trees again.

Daichi and Suga hurried Kiyoko to the edge of a stream they’d seen through the trees as they landed while Akaashi and Yaku began picking through the bushes for plants with any medicinal purposes. 

Hinata turned to where he’d let Kageyama go, only to see his boyfriend had placed himself far from the others on the opposite side of the field. He walked over and leaned against the tree he was hiding himself behind. 

“Hey Bakayama?”

“What, Dumbass?”

“I love you.”

Kageyama’s head whirled around to look at him. “What are you saying that at a time like this for you idiot!”

“I figured you needed to hear it now more than before.” The valkyrie plopped down beside him and looked him in the eyes. “I love you, Tobio.”

Kageyama’s fingers twitched as he debated whether or not to reach out to the orange haired boy.

“Fine, I’ll do it.” Hinata said, taking the other’s face in his hands and kissing him. It had only been two days and still he could hardly imagine going much longer. Feeling his skin under his fingertips and the softly chapped lips moving against his own was something he feared he’d never have again.

“Things are going to be a lot different now.” Kageyama said once they’d pulled away.

“You’re right. You don’t have to wear sunscreen anymore.”

“I’m serious, idiot.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” He sighed and took Kageyama’s hand in his. “But just because that part of you is different doesn’t mean all of you is. And I’m not. Just because part of this is different doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

Kageyama dropped his eyes. “Do you still want to meet my family? If they don’t kill us both before the words even come out of my mouth, I’ll be kicked out. Oikawa will tell them I’m not fit anymore, and he should, I could never lead them now.”

“You never wanted to.”

“He’s never really believed that.” 

“I won’t let them kill you. And neither will he, you didn’t see the way he looked at you while you were unconscious. You two are family.”

He didn’t respond and instead he pulled Hinata into his chest, securing him there and making a promise to never let something like this happen to him; he’d already lost too much. That sparked a memory, however, and this he did choose to speak on.

“What are we going to do about the mission? Your family?”

“I sort of forgot about that actually. With you being gone, all I could think was trying to get you out.”

“If you two are done cuddling, the important stuff could use your attention.” Tsukki said hovering around them, his eyes shut and Yamaguchi’s arm wrapped around his own.

“You don’t have extra glasses?” 

“Ones that won’t amplify my power? No not on hand.” He grumbled. 

“Tsukki doesn’t want to freeze anyone.”

“Not true, I’d love to freeze at least those two.” He disagreed. “Who else could have screwed up so badly that I’d need a second pair?”

“I’ll take him away now.” Yamaguchi said, leading him away. 

Kageyama and Hinata followed, their hands lazily linked with just a few fingers, a lingering touch just to remind them that they were together again.

Iwaizumi was wrapping up a cut on his arm when they reached the others. “Is that going to be enough?” He asked, looking pale and tired.

“If I say yes will you let me fix you?” Kenma asked.

“Not until he’s okay.”

“Let me do it.” Kageyama said, rolling up one of his sleeves.

“Kageyama-”

“Human blood right?” He said, making everyone fall silent. “He’d been going months without anything, mine would work the best.”

“Ours too.” Kunimi agreed.

“We owe him.” Kindaichi agreed.

“You owe him?” The others asked in disbelief.

“When we were younger, the two of us had been camping much closer to your villages than we ever expected. We just picked up and kept moving East until we got attacked by a rogue vampire. Oikawa showed up just as we figured we were going to die and took him out. He saved our lives and let us run away, telling his people we weren’t even there.” Kunimi explained.

“We will give just as much as you.” Kindaichi said, raising his dagger between them.

Kageyama took it first but as he pierced his skin, Oikawa awoke. His teeth slid out again and his eyes shot open, hands clawing at the bead of blood on his cousin’s arm. It took Iwaizumi, Yamaguchi, Lev, and Bokuto to restrain him. Without flinching, Kageyama dropped the dagger and held out his arm to the vampire, who had now regained at least partial control. 

“I don’t need it.”

“Yes you do.” Kageyama stuck his arm out again and turned away. Once Oikawa tore himself away, not wanting to get carried away and accidentally kill his cousin, the other two did the same. It was amazing the effect even that much blood had on him. His eyes were almost back to their normal dark brown color, but it was even still twinged with hints of red. His cheeks weren’t so hollow anymore and it was clear that he would soon be back to his normal self. Iwaizumi moved forward to lightly punch him  in the shoulder but another pain flared along his torso, making him wince in pain and fall back a step.

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa hovered over him until Kenma pushed him away to get a look at his injuries. 

“It’s really staring to wear off now. We need to get that water from the others  _ now _ .”

“Done and done.” Daichi said, coming into the clearing with two canteens of water and a refreshed looking Kiyoko holding another. Suga brought up the rear, holding up a handful of some sort of plant few of them recognized off hand.

“Wolfsbane!” Kenma cried excitedly--the most excited Hinata could remember seeing him. “Perfect!”

Oikawa helped settled Iwaizumi on the ground, his head on the vampire’s lap. “This is the thanks you got for trying to help me.” He said sadly, brushing the hair off the siren’s forehead.

“If I had the energy to, I would punch you so hard right now.”

Oikawa smiled slightly. “So rude, Iwa-chan.”

“Well if we’re all just going to wait around while everyone heals up a bit, why don’t we also come up with some sort of a plan.” Tsukki piped up.

“And what did you have in mind then Basilisk who can’t see?” Yaku asked.

“Would you rather I have a look around,  _ Pixie _ ?” He bit back.

“Okay don’t make me put you two in a time out.” Suga interjected. “Tsukishima is right though, we need to come up with some sort of plan. Either we stay and fight because we’re here and we know what’s going on or we go home and get reinforcements.”

“I can’t leave.” Hinata shook his head. “I told my sister I would get whoever nearly killed her and make sure they never got the chance to hurt her again.”

“I may not be as much help anymore, but I’m not letting you go back there alone.” Kageyama said.

“I guess that means our team is staying.” Yamaguchi gave them a small smile.

“It does?” Tsukki asked.

“Yes it does.”

“This was our mission first.” Oikawa stepped in.

“Your mission was the Little Giant.” Hinata said bitterly. “Which you only wanted because I wanted it.”

The vampire shrugged. “It was a way to kill two birds with one stone I’ll give you that, but they know where the Little Giant is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we have a moment to breathe you're welcome but don't expect it to last very long


	19. New Plan... Oh Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as they entered the middle ring of the town where the tower stood, a horn blew from behind them, making Kageyama’s blood feel icy in his veins. They’d missed one.

Hinata crouched low, trying to keep his wings settled against his back. “I can’t believe he could have been right under our noses.” He muttered.

“Will you keep quiet.” Tsukishima hissed.

“I’m sorry if my idol-being-possibly-within-shouting-distance-while-my-boyfriend-is-off-being-captured-again voice is a little too dramatic for you.”

“Why did anyone think putting you two together was a good idea?” Kenma asked.

“Shh! I see it!” Hinata whispered.

A small, red laser light flashed from off to their left saying the team hidden there, Suga Akaashi and Yaku, had spotted Kageyama coming towards them. They watched as the two soldiers--a newly dressed Kunimi and Kindaichi--lead him in. Tsukishima smiled at remembering how he’d landed a punch on the Ex-King to give them the appearance of a struggle even though almost everyone had been severely against him getting another one in. Still, the basilisk kept his eyes shut, waiting for Yamaguchi to return so they could start their part of the mission.

They didn’t have long to wait and the fallen angel fell back to the ground next to them.

“Are we ready to kick some human ass?” Tsukki asked, as close to excited as Hinata had ever seen him.

“Almost. Kageyama is almost between the first buildings.” Yamaguchi replied. “We’ll stay behind you, go ahead and open your eyes, alright?”

He shook his head, but the fallen angel kissed his cheek. “I promise I won’t even be looking at you, alright? That’s not going to happen, I trust you, okay? But we need you to take in your surroundings before we let you head out on this charge.”

Tsukki had to agree that charging in without being able to see until they were already there wasn’t going to work out very well so he did what he was told and opened his eyes. It was odd not having his glasses on, almost like his eyes had adjusted to them so his eyesight was really impaired but he was too distracted to worry about that now. There were four people surrounding the outer buildings were Kageyama was just walking from this side alone. From what everyone else had said, there had been ten around the tower itself, though they had probably enhanced that by now. 

“Let’s go.” He said, hearing Yamaguchi and Hinata take to the sky and Kenma gathering little hex bags they’d made at their makeshift camp. He still figured this was a stupid idea, but he couldn’t imagine anything better so together they took the outer rim, clearing the way for Suga’s team to move forward with Kindaichi and Kunimi. 

Since they now had on outfits from the scouting party members they had taken out, they were nearly impossible to recognize, especially because of the helmets. They lead Kageyama down the street while others shouted at him, calling him a disgusting creature and a crime against nature as he was now. He was more unimpressed by their lack of eloquence than their vitriolic words, so instead of responding, he watched for signs of the others, a glance from a lean black cat skittering around a block ahead of them, a black feather falling to a window ledge. It was enough to get him down the street, but he wasn’t sure he could stand going back inside. If the plan worked, there wouldn’t be a reason to but if it didn’t...

Kunimi’s hand wrapped a little tighter around his arm as they got closer to the tower. Kageyama felt his feet slow but he couldn’t help himself. Pain flared along his neck where the needle had been pressed into him and his whole body felt like lead just remembering what had happened in this place. He wished he could have blocked it out entirely, he wished he never had to lay eyes on the thing again. 

Just as they entered the middle ring of the town where the tower stood, a horn blew from behind them, making Kageyama’s blood feel icy in his veins. They’d missed one.

Half of the remaining soldiers charged into the city while the other half surrounded Kageyama and ushered him, Kindaichi and Kunimi inside. He didn’t have to play up being afraid anymore, he just was. The walls loomed closer and closer as he strained to get free, desperate for his vampire strength to return if just for a moment so he could just get free.

The door slammed shut behind him and Kageyama was brought face to face with the very monster that had destroyed him. 

“Overestimated yourself, huh?” Ushijima asked. “To tell you the truth, I  _ underestimated  _ my work. Who knew it would take only one dose to fix you?”

Kageyama bit his tongue to keep himself from screaming back at him, angered most by the word ‘fix’, but he knew that’s just what the human wanted. They were no match for the creatures as they were now and they knew it.

 

~

“The thing is,” Oikawa said, “we don’t know where the Little Giant is being held, only that Akaashi could feel some sort of presence below us in the tower.”

“From what we can tell, he’s been there ever since he went missing four years ago.” Iwaizumi added. “He probably never meant to leave in the first place.”

Hinata was stunned into silence. He had been right under his feet, locked away from everyone he knew for years leading creatures to that damned tower for Uchijima and his army to torture and find out secrets. 

“That’s why they started abducting people.” He finally said. “The Little Giant quest was only being offered once a year, they were running out of creatures to torture.”

Kageyama had been silent up until this point. “They’ve been using all the creatures who went on that quest to figure out how to do this to me.” Everyone turned to him. It was the first time he’d brought up what had happened while he was in the Other Room. “He mentioned having lots of practice before. He said something about having the perfect ‘antidote’ for creatures. Whatever he got me with... they’ve been working on since then to turn all of us into humans.”

~

 

Kageyama found it difficult not to scream when they strapped him down into the same chair as before, a bright light shining in his face. Ushijima and a few others poked and prodded at him, even dropping blood--which now tasted like metal and left a foul aftertaste he couldn’t name--into his mouth to be sure his fangs didn’t appear and his eyes didn’t turn red. 

“I did it.” Ushijima said, stepping back. “It really did only take one dose. I’ve done it!”

He looked like he was ready to throw confetti into the air.

“Where’s the Little Giant?” Kageyama asked through gritted teeth.

“What?”

“The valkyrie. I wouldn’t have come to this village looking for him if he wasn’t here now where is he?”

Ushijima laughed. “Little Giant you say? Well now, that I haven’t heard for a while. Usually when you all get in here that’s the last thing on your minds, but I guess that’s why you were stupid enough to come back? Either way, you’ll be joining him now that you’re back. Hopefully your little band of friends will return for you, though if it’s just been you so far, I’d assume my little experiment made them not trust you anymore.”

Kageyama snarled in response. Of course they wouldn’t do that... the mission was jeopardized somehow, they just missed a soldier who blew the horn... Just because he was human didn’t mean they would leave him here, especially not Hinata...

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE DON'T HATE ME but I may have gotten a really terrible idea.... stay tuned


	20. Escape Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Tell us later once we’re out of here and back home.” Hinata chided.“It can’t wait, he-”
> 
> “He’s gone.” Bokuto said as the four of them burst into the room.
> 
> “He’s moving on our city.” Kageyama finished. “The Little Giant is his tracking device to finding it.”

Hinata cursed as he swooped down, letting Kageyama out of his sight to help take down the soldier who was now running towards the forest after blowing the horn. He hoped no one could hear it inside the tower because if they did, that could mean the end of the line for the plan and Kageyama was gone again. He should have argued with Kageyama more about who would be the one “captured”- he should have done  _ more _ . 

Once again, he’d let his boyfriend go off alone and now he was back in that tower. Only this time, it would be a lot easier for them to kill him. Hinata shook his head as Yamaguchi waved his hand in the valkyrie’s face. “Hinata!” He was saying.

“What?”

“Hurry up!” He repeated, exasperatedly.

Hinata followed the fallen angel to the center of the city where the humans had gathered around the base of the tower. He wanted to hope they hadn’t noticed the lack of Iwaizumi and Oikawa yet, but he was beyond being very hopeful now. None of their plans had worked out so far, why should they start now?

A cry rang out from the tower, not as soul crushing as before, but Hinata knew Kageyama was in horrible pain if that was the noise that came out of him. Yamaguchi had to hold him back in order to prevent him from barreling right through the guard and most likely getting himself killed in the process.

“Let him go!” He screamed angrily. 

A few of the humans shifted nervously which he took as a good sign. One of them suddenly turned to stone and all those near him shielded their eyes while Tsukki clicked his tongue in defeat. If he couldn’t make eye contact, there wasn’t much he could do.

One of the humans attempted to speak to them--probably asking for them to surrender or something as equally as absurd--but before he could get very far, a tiny little black bag sailed through the air and on impact with the ground, exploded into a thick, murky fog. Hinata almost smiled. At least that part of the plan worked. He and Yamaguchi--holding Tsukki--flew in, keeping their wing movements to a minimum to keep from disappaiting the fog and flew right to the door. They heard guttural noises and knew Oikawa had made his appearance. Once they got inside, they still stuffed their ears to avoid hearing Iwaizumi’s song through any cracks in the tower. Not too far behind them, Oikawa’s original team stormed through the door. 

Hinata would remember later that even in the middle of so much going on, he felt a sudden wave of respect for Bokuto, Akaashi, Iwaizumi and even Oikawa. They had been locked in this damned tower, tortured for what seemed like fun to the humans, and yet they were the second team to come back to it. Those four were a force to be reckoned with. 

By the time they found the “Other Room”, the next team--Daichi, Suga, Kuroo, and Lev--came in. Kiyoko, Yaku, and Kenma held a barrier in front of the door that effectively shut out the rest of the humans, but there was no telling how long it would hold so the other teams had to move quickly if they were to save Kageyama  _ and  _ find the hidden Little Giant. 

Akaashi lead the other three he was with down the stairs while the third team moved to help Hinata, only to find that the ex-vampire was alone in the Other Room, his leg bruising and bent at an unhealthy angle, but still breathing. He couldn’t stand, which wasn’t much of a problem for Hinata, but they could hardly move him without injuring it more. Tsukki stood off too the side with his eyes closed, being unhelpful as always like saying it would hurt less if he was petrified.

“It’s so... much worse than... we thought...” Kageyama said between winces and small noises of pain as they helped him up.

“Tell us later once we’re out of here and back home.” Hinata chided. “It can’t wait, he-”

“He’s gone.” Bokuto said as the four of them burst into the room.

“He’s moving on our city.” Kageyama finish ed. “The Little Giant is his tracking device to finding it.”

 

They reconvened outside just within the doors as the ground outside was littered with black, poison arrows. While the shield could keep out humans, the poison could rip through, draining their spell faster and causing them to hide behind whatever they could find like barrels and boxes littered around them. 

Kiyoko’s face was beaded with sweat and she looked like after this she was going to need a much longer trip to the river to recover. Kenma’s hair, tied back off his face earlier was now sticking out in the oddest places, his cat like eyes alert and darting around wildly.

Iwaizumi cursed. “All of that outside is just a diversion. He’s giving up all of their lives to get away. That’s disgusting.”

“He’s a human.” Oikawa muttered.

“Hey.” Kageyama protested with a painful groan.

“You’re fine, we have bigger problems than stepping on your feelings.”

“Oikawa can you track him?” Hinata asked hopefully.

“I’m not a werewolf, Chibi-chan, I’m a vampire.”

“Well then what  _ are  _ you good for?”

“Let’s see how far I can punt you out that door shall we?”

“Both of you shut up!” Suga said with exasperation. “Yaku, once we get outside would you be able to find him?”

“Of course.” The sprite beamed.

“Wherever he went, he had to get the Little Giant first. Let’s get down there and see what there is.” Kuroo suggested.

“You go.” Kunimi said from behind them. His arm was draped over Kindaichi’s shoulder and they both looked as if they’d been trampled. “We’ll hold the door.”

Before anyone could protest, Kindaichi held up what looked to be a piece of armor. “This isn’t just about you anymore. Ushijima doesn’t care about humans either. Hanamaki and Matsukawa didn’t die for you idiots to get stopped here.”

“They didn’t die for you to throw away your lives either.” Oikawa replied.

Kunimi gave him a shrug. “You assume we’re going to die?”

The vampire smiled sadly and stuck out his hand. “Assuming you don’t die, feel free to get the hell out of this place.”

The humans each took his arm and nodded. “Now get going.” Kindaichi commanded.

They barricaded the doors and the three keeping up the barrier heaved a sigh of relief once they let it fall. Almost immediately, the humans outside charged the door. The creatures scrambled down the stairs, hoping it held up until they could get out and that the two they’d left to defend it were spared.

Two floors under ground, they found where the Little Giant had been less than an hour before. Hinata peered through the bars, skin crawling at the bronze feathers littering the ground and the smell hovering around them. He was again curious about what they wanted with him, targeting his home which triggered this mission in the first place.

“Look for anything out of the ordinary.” Daichi said as they spread out. 

Tsukki remained by the door, listening for any sound of pursuit and keeping his eyes shut tightly with Kageyama sat on the floor by his feet.

“Tobio-chan.” Oikawa called out from the far left side of the room. “We’re going to need you for this.”

Hinata helped him over and before either of them could protest, Oikawa bit into his cousin’s hand. Kageyama cried out  in shock more than pain. “What the h-”

“I said we needed you.” Oikawa held the bleeding hand up to the wall where another smear of blood was. Under his hand, Kageyama felt the wall start to shake until it swung backwards like a door opening into a dark corridor. 

“Well that looks pleasant.” Kuroo said into the darkness.

“I sense water.” Kiyoko said, taking the first step inside. “It’s so close.”

“Lead the way then, Shizumi.” Suga urged.

Though it got increasingly darker--to the point they couldn’t see a hand an inch in front of their faces--but Kiyoko never strayed. They stumbled over each other, batted cobwebs out of their hair, ran into walls and yet she never slowed. So when she came to a complete stop, Suga nearly ran into her, stopping Daichi in his tracks, making Kuroo run into the back of both of them, Bokuto knocking heads with the shapeshifter, and so on all the way back to Hinata and Kageyama in the back.

“Found the water.” She said simply.

“And?” Kuroo prompted.

“And I can use it to get us out, however there’s going to be a bit of an issue.”

“Oh boy.” Bokuto sighed.

“What’s that?” Akaashi asked.

“How long can you hold your breath?”


	21. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Kenma, as incredible as that was, I’m never drinking that stuff again.” Hinata said, falling to the ground on his stomach.

Oikawa’s head burst through the water right behind Iwaizumi, the last two of the group. Kiyoko helped them out, a dim light being the only reason they could see her outstretched hand.

“The light is the forest. It’s early dawn now.” She said as the boys wrung out their clothes.

“You can go on ahead, right? Warn everyone?” Suga asked.

“Of course I can.”

“I’m going too.” Kuroo stepped forward. “I can swim along with you and it will be easier to get everyone evacuated if we are both there to deliver and spread the message.” 

“Hey Kiyoko...” Hinata stepped closer. “When you get back uh could you- well could you tell Yachi I’m sorry for leaving her and Natsu like this?”

She smiled sadly at him. “I’ve got my own apologizing to do too then I guess. I’ll let her know though.”

He nodded then stood back as she slipped back into the river, her body and clothes melding into the water. Kuroo gave them a smirk, stepping back casually as his body morphed into that of a fish. Kenma quickly scooped up his clothes as they sped off. There was a barely distinct outline swimming faster than the rest of the current, towards the light and out into the forest on her way home. The boys followed her lead and soon the glare of the sun illuminated the world in front of them. 

“What are we going to do about you?” Iwaizumi asked, turning to Oikawa who stood back in the shadows.

“You could carry me.”

“I’m not doing that.”

“Rude.”

“Well we can’t wait around until night, he’s already got a head start.” Hinata interjected. 

Yaku stretched his arms above his head. “It’ll take me a minute because my wings are cramped, but I can get everything you’d need, Kenma.”

“Sounds good. Get going and get back,” urged the witch.

Again, Hinata was reminded of what they’d lived through. Everyone of them had been through a lot, yet he couldn’t help feeling like he was the the one getting off easy. Even when they talked easily, taking in the sun and fresh air, they glanced over their shoulders like at any minute a trap would be sprung and they’d all be dragged back into that hellish place. He shuddered, which Kageyama noticed. 

“Don’t catch a cold, dumbass.”

“I won’t!” He looked down at his shoes. “Listen, I-”

“I don’t want to hear it.” Kageyama pecked his lips. “We’re out, we’re  safe at least for now.”

Hinata gave a bitter scoff of a laugh. “Is that what our lives have been reduced to? ‘We’re safe  _ for now _ ’?” His wings shifted uncomfortably as they had begun to dry folded up. He flexed their muscles and they stretched out, sprinkling water behind him and on the others.

Tsukki shivered at the touch. “If that was you, Hinata I swear I will-”

“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi pulled him back to sit on the ground. 

“If I can get out there, I can go ahead too.” Oikawa said once Yaku had landed next to kenma, his arms full of what seemed like more than enough for one vampire, even for a few days. 

“Don’t worry, we now have a solution to that.” Kenma said with a hint of a smile. 

 

The blur under Hinata’s body hardly looked like trees anymore. He was worried about getting motion sickness--which would have been ridiculous, sure, but such was his life--and he figured Kageyama would hate him for throwing up on him so he took deep breaths and tried not to think about it. Ahead, Daichi started to slow so they followed suit and soon the city was in view.

Kageyama’s feet touched down and he stumbled a bit, unused to solid ground beneath his feet. 

“Kenma, as incredible as that was, I’m never drinking that stuff again.” Hinata said, falling to the ground on his stomach.

“Get up, Chibi-chan, we’re moving.” Oikawa said, urging them all forward.

Hinata grumbled a response but no one paid much attention. Now that they were in the forest again, Daichi fell back behind Yaku and Oikawa. They lead the group back to the edge of the forest where a number of creatures were already waiting. A fairy hovered above everyone, shouting out reassurances while a little valkyrie fluttered behind her.

“Natsu!” Hinata jumped back into the air, nearly forgetting the effects of Kenma’s potion hadn’t completely worn off yet and knocking her out of the sky.

“Onii-chan!” She hugged him tightly, her face buried in his chest. “You were gone for so long!”

“Hinata!” Yachi said, hugging him next. She smiled and looked him over for any obvious signs of injury. Once she found none, her mouth turned down in a frown and she smacked his arm. “You scared us half to death! You’ve been gone for so long!”

Hinata scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “It wasn’t that long... I’ll explain more later, I promise but for now we have to get going. Kageyama was worried about that human and for good reason.”

Hinata briefly summarized what Kageyama had told him on their flight here about how Ushijima was making himself into a monster with the blood he’d gotten from so many creatures. 

Yachi looked terrified; like she would be shaking if they were on the ground. “You mean he’s a creature now? How is that even possible?”

“I’m no expert on the science behind it, but he turned Kageyama human the same way. We-”

“Kageyama is  _ human _ ?” 

“Later, Yachi! We need to get them away from the city, not just clear it.” 

Yachi nodded. “Natsu, let’s go.”

The little valkyrie nodded, kissed her brother’s cheek quickly, and followed Yachi to the back of the crowd. Hinata rejoined the others who had started to tell those around them. From what they gathered, the two vampire families weren’t leaving, claiming they would stop this human on their own.

Oikawa groaned. “Of course they are.”

“Leave it to a bunch of stuck up vampires always trying to out do each other.” Kageyama agreed. The two cousins glanced at each other but an unspoken argument seemed to pass and they looked away again.

“Both of you get yourselves together, they won’t listen to anyone but you!” Iwaizumi urged.

Before Kageyama could remind him that his being human may not be a very motivating factor, a loud cracking noise rang out like a tree being knocked over not far from where they stood. Sure enough, they saw a few smaller trees fall as the top came crashing to the forest floor. Behind it stood the most terrifying monster anyone had ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long guys :/ I've been soooo busy and this is short but ooooh just wait it's going to get crazy real quick here


	22. Fallen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iwaizumi cursed under his breath. “What now?”
> 
> (tbh, that's pretty much the whole story line up to now, right XD)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY GUYS I SOLD THE REST OF MY SOUL TO VOLTRON SO I HAVEN'T BEEN ON IN A WHILE ACK and now you're all going to hate me soooooooo have fun!

Misshapen wings of black and bronze, one leg of a gryffin, one of a bigfoot, scales of a basilisk, sharp claws, one black eye and one blood red. There was a rush of panic as the creatures behind them scattered into the forest, some even turning back into the city. Oikawa looked sideways to Iwaizumi who was already looking at him. An unspoken conversation passed between them and they both nodded.

Oikawa blinked and as his eyes opened again, they were red. Iwaizumi followed his charge and the two rushed at the monster, Daichi and Suga flanking them on either side. Kenma began chanting and with Yaku’s help, a wall of roots, vines, and branches grew up behind them to protect the other creatures who were still trying to get away. Akaashi and Lev fell back into the trees to try getting around the back of him. Hinata heard Natsu call his name, but he couldn’t risk giving the monster in front of him any other target than them so he ignored her and took to the sky with Yamaguchi and Bokuto. 

The monster blocked every blow Oikawa and Iwaizumi tried to land. Daichi’s claws and teeth were repelled by the basilisk scales and Suga’s attempt at possession ended up knocking him backwards twenty feet into the trees. He knocked Lev into Akaashi with a backwards sweep of his scaled arms and the monster’s face was twisted as he laughed, the sound echoing through their minds. Kageyama clutched his ears and glared, angry at how defenseless he was. Tsukishima’s petrification did little but slow his movements until they broke eye contact and the basilisk knew that even if he got close enough, his venom would be useless. From around the wall Kenma and Yaku had put up, bounded an orthos and a cerberus.

“Mad Dog-chan! Yahaba!”

Iwaizumi groaned as he was knocked backwards to the ground. “Don’t look away in the middle of a fight Shittykawa!” 

The two newcomers quickly took their places in the fight as Hinata and Yamaguchi attempted an attack from the sky which worked just about as well as throwing a spoonful of water onto a fire. Another horrible laugh berated their ears as his face twisted in sort of smile. 

“Creatures and humans alike will cower before me!” 

Oikawa didn’t much like the idea of cowering, oddly enough, so such an overreaching announcement of early defeat made his heart beat faster and his determination even stronger. Iwaizumi could almost feel the change in his movements from the analytical poking and prodding to find a weak point of before to now making his own weak spot. 

“He’s going to attempt to fly!” Yamaguchi said, desperately pointing below them. 

Hinata looked and saw that the monster’s wings were stretching and curling as if they were getting used to the movements. 

“If he gets into the air, we’re all that’s between him and the rest of the creatures!” Bokuto shouted back.

They tried attacking again, shouting to the others that they can’t let him take to the air as they plummeted down towards him. The monster seemed to be able to predict their moves and side stepped so Suga got in Yamaguchi’s way then used Daichi’s weight against him and knocked the gryffin into the attacking valkyrie. Bokuto almost sunk his claws into the monster before a sudden sharp impact sent him spiralling into Lev who was mid transformation. Before Oikawa could reach him, his mismatched wings pushed him and Akaashi back, throwing Kageyama, Kenma and Yaku into the wall as well. As the creatures tried to get to their feet, the monster rose into the sky, his laugh sounding more and more like he was about to cough up blood every time. 

Iwaizumi cursed under his breath. “What now?”

“Natsu!” Hinata cried, shooting into the sky as soon as the monster turned his eyes past the wall. Roots shot up with him as Yaku and Kenma attempted to pull him back down, but the monster slashed through them with his claws. Yamaguchi and Bokuto lurched into the air behind him, the two placing themselves behind Hinata between the city and the horrifying beast in front of them.

Between them, buzzed a bird so fast they almost didn’t see it. The little creature zipped right towards the brute, nipping at the wings and plucking feathers while the monster tried to snatch it out of the air. While he was momentarily distracted, the others charged again, Yamaguchi taking one wing and Hinata the other. They yanked hard in opposite directions as Bokuto closed up his wings and charged head first into his midsection, hearing a few pops and cracks that indicated they’d at least partially succeeded. 

As the monster howled and fell to the ground, they saw him loosen his fist to reveal the small bird he’d finally grabbed. As they fell apart, the bird transformed, changing shape as he hurtled to the ground. Hinata watched in horror as the shapeshifter fell and fell, crashing through the tops of trees. 

When they made it to the ground again, Kenma, Yaku, Lev, and Akaashi were already gathered around the broken, fallen Kuroo. His chest was bare and his lower half was covered with some sort of blanket, but the bruising and cuts along his torso made it hard to notice much else. Every bone in his body had been crushed. His ribs had punctured his lungs and with the amount of blood that was already pouring onto the ground and soaking into the dirt... well Hinata knew that this one was beyond anyone’s help.

Kuroo’s face was twisted in pain when Bokuto fell to his knees on the opposite side of Kenma. The witch held his hand and gave Bokuto a silent shake of his head. Akaashi gripped Bokuto as the owlman broke down, seeing his best friend dying before him. 

The shapeshifter winced as he turned his head. “Well look at that.” He said lightly like pushing breath from his lungs hurt like the world was sitting atop his chest. “I guess I was wrong.” He coughed suddenly, making Kenma shut his eyes tightly and grip his hand tighter. 

Bokuto pulled away from Akaashi, his hands shaking. “I told you. I told you you could be a hero if you tried.”

“Last time I listen to you.” Bokuto let a sob escape his mouth instead of a response. “Hey, don’t let anyone else know.” Kuroo said, his teeth stained red with blood. “Don’t want to ruin my reputation.”

“You’re an idiot.” Kenma said, tears falling onto Kuroo’s hand. “I hate you so much right now.”

“I think I deserve a little bit more than that, don’t you?” He coughed again, this time sputtering out blood at the others, though they only drew closer rather than receding. Kuroo looked at Akaashi. “Don’t let him do anything stupid without me, okay?”

Akaashi nodded slowly, silvery tears falling silently down his cheeks. 

“And you two, try to liven up next year, got it?” He said, turning just his eyes to Lev and Yaku. “I won’t be there to get you into trouble.”

Lev was loudly sobbing onto Yaku’s shoulder and the sprite could only nod as his lip was trembling too much to speak.

“It’s you I’m really worried about.” Kuroo said, making his last effort to look at Kenma. “You’re not going to let me die are you?”

“Not in a million years.” Kenma said, his voice cracking. 

“As long as you guys come visit, I guess I’m okay with that then.” He said, closing his eyes. His breathing had gotten shallower and his words were barely audible over the sound of everyone else crying. 

Yaku detached himself from Lev and stood, wiping his eyes. Akaashi followed suit and looked down sadly at Kenma. “If you still want to, we have to do it now.” He said softly.

Kenma hesitated before slipping his hand out of Kuroo’s. The three of them linked hands and started chanting something the others couldn't quite understand. As they did, Kuroo started to glow faintly in the shade of the afternoon. Almost like he was shapeshifting, his body began to change. The grass around him seemed to crawl up his skin and from his stomach a sprout started, straining towards the sky as Kuroo melded into the nature around him. 

The tree grew bigger and bigger, nearly pulling their arms apart until the chanting stopped, the tree now feet above any around it and Kuroo completely hidden from sight. Akaashi swayed a little on his feet and sat back down next to Bokuto. “Now you have a place to come back to.” He said, taking the owlman’s hand in his.

Hinata had been searching this whole time for words that could somehow capture just how awful he felt, how sorry he was, but he still couldn’t find any combination to fulfill just what he wanted them to know. Instead, he decided that now probably wasn’t the time for words at all and stood silently as the five gathered around the tree leaned on each other for support. 

The next time they moved was in response to a sharp cry from somewhere behind them in the forest. It was a high pitched scream cut short, but even in that time Hinata knew who it was. After all this time,  _ he  _ was the target. He’d nearly forgotten that amid the rescuing and fighting. He was the one they wanted and if they couldn't get him, they’d get whoever was close.

The scream had come from Natsu.


	23. Warrior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What do you mean he said no and you listened?” Kageyama demanded.
> 
> “He wants to fight him alone.” Daichi replied.
> 
> “That doesn’t mean you let him! He’s an idiot! He’s going to get himself killed!”

Hinata’s feet hovered above the ground and his eyebrows were set hard like his frown. “Let her go.” He said between his teeth. 

Behind him, the other creatures gathered, standing on edge and waiting for an opportunity to get Natsu out of harm’s way. Even Kiyoko and Yachi had returned and stood with their newest recruits: a troll, a werewolf, and an imp, all ready to jump into the fight at the first chance. Hinata distantly registered that Tanaka, Asahi and Noya had shown up, but he didn’t want to look away for even a second, lest Natsu’s position be worsened still. How many people had to be hurt to get to him? His parents, his friends, Kageyama... how much more could he stand to have weigh on his conscience until he collapsed under the weight?

The monster held his small prisoner around her torso, effectively smashing her wings and ignoring her attempts to free herself with fists and feet. “Who? This tiny little bird?”

“I am not a bird!” She cried indignantly.

Yachi’s fists clenched and her face turned red. “Let her go you- you-“

“Now why would I do that?” He asked roughly. “I just need to have a little chat with one of you and this seems to be the only way you’ll all hold off long enough to listen.”

Hinata settled to the ground and moved a few steps closer. “If it’s me you want to talk to, you can forget about it. I’m not listening to a word. I refuse to entertain you for even a moment. You’ve taken enough from me, I won’t let you take her too.”

“Taken from you? I think you’ve forgotten what I’ve _given_ to you, _little._ _Flightless._ _Shoyo_.”

Hinata blinked. “You were there when I got hit with that arrow, weren’t you? You were the one aiming for Kageyama!”

He shrugged, making his wings jut out oddly and unnaturally. “Kill off one of the heirs to the vampire throne? Can you imagine the chaos? Quests unlike anything you’ve ever believed, desperate, vengeful parents trying to get back at a single human. Why the power it would have brought to my door would have been delicious. Even more that that Little Giant.”

“Where is he?” Hinata demanded.

The brute shrugged. “Floating around in the river somewhere probably.”

Kiyoko shook her head. “There’s nothing in my river Hinata, I’d feel that. He’s just trying to get to you.”

“I’ll give you one last chance. Let my sister go.”

He glanced down at Natsu still held tight in his arm. “Why don’t you come get her?” The monster launched them both into the air, knocking the others back with the force of his take off.

Hinata trailed just behind him. Yamaguchi, Bokuto, Yachi and Daichi followed suit, but the valkyrie sent them back. 

“This is between the two of us! I won’t let anyone else get caught up in it because of me! Protect the city if I fail!”

The monster smiled and dropped Natsu suddenly, as if she had suddenly grown too hot to hold. The air resistance and her crumpled wings made her unable to fly, but Yamaguchi swooped in and caught her, tucking her in close to his chest. “Onii-chan!” She cried as Hinata flew higher and higher.

The monster flew above the clouds and he didn’t slow until Hinata had finally caught up. The valkyrie grabbed the end of one wing and noticed that they were still damaged from their attack earlier. His wet hair hung in his face and his clothes stuck to his body, but he wasn’t letting this monster get away from him.

With a twist, he pulled his wings out of the valkyrie’s grip. 

“What do you want from me?” Hinata said, practically seething. “Why did you want to kill Kageyama?”

“Oh it was nothing personal really. I would have settled for either of them, but your little king was in the right place at the right time.”

“Don’t call him that.”

“Oh, touchy subject now?” He asked with a wicked, twisted smirk. “Anyways, you just happened to have been there as well and imagine my surprise! The Flightless Valkyrie, you know most people who remember the story thought it was going to be your Little Giant but once I got my hands on him, I knew it wasn’t true.”

“What story?”

“That’s right, you don’t even know your own story now do you?”

“What story?” Hinata repeated. 

“Yours. That a Flightless Valkyrie would be born and that there would be a power hidden away in those very wings that refused to sprout. That a tiny, little being could have more power than an army of creatures combined. That a valkyrie would be the protector of his people in a time of great need. Well it looks like I gave you your wings as well as that time of need.”

“Why don’t we put the story to the test?” Hinata asked, clenching his hands into fists.

“It would be my pleasure.”

He wasn’t sure why, but he had a fleeting vision of himself holding a bronze weapon in his hand. A weight suddenly fell into his palm and sure enough, there it was. A sword with a bronze blade that fit just right in his hand. On his arm, appeared a shield also made of bronze with black wings emblazoned on the front. The straps were tied tightly and the metal felt cool against his skin. Hinata didn’t get more than a moment to marvel at them before the monster before him charged, flying straight towards him with an angry fire in his eyes.

  
  


“What do you mean he said no and you listened?” Kageyama demanded.

“He wants to fight him alone.” Daichi replied.

“That doesn’t mean you let him! He’s an idiot! He’s going to get himself killed!”

“Kageyama, he’ll be okay.” Suga said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “If I remember correctly, there might be a part of Hinata you don’t yet understand.”

Above them, the sky turned dark, like the light was being sucked into the clouds. All eyes turned towards Hinata’s battle though it was still hidden from sight. It turned black as night before there was an eruption of golden light, so bright they had to shield their eyes and so forceful they had to brace themselves. 

The light faded and it was as if the world had gone back to normal. The color had returned to the sky, the clouds remained, and they all looked back up, straining to see their orange haired friend. A few shadows fell, but nothing made Kageyama release the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding until a figured fell from the clouds. A small one with black wings.

Kageyama ran forward to catch him, but just above his head, Hinata came to a stop. There was a slight glow around him, a bronze band had appeared on his forehead and there was a cut on his cheek, but other than that he seemed asleep. 

“Hinata?” Kageyama asked as the valkyrie settled into his arms. 

He stirred slightly and slowly slid his eyes open. “What... what just happened?”

“You really were the Flightless Valkyrie I heard about.” Suga said, coming up from behind them. “Hinata... you did it. You saved us.”

“But what did I  _ do _ ?” He asked, looking at his hands.

“Honestly, I can’t tell you for sure because I didn’t see it, but the book where I heard about that legend said that the first valkyries were warriors. They were picked from the bravest of humans had given the power of a mighty warrior in combat. Along the way, less and less valkyries were able to use their gifts because those powers just weren’t needed anymore. That was so long ago, I figured there was no way that the myth could be true, but the first generation where no one was born with the warrior power, they were told that when a threat large enough came along, a warrior would rise to the occasion and reclaim their gift.”

Hinata touched the band around his head. “A warrior huh?”

They were blinded again by a bright light, but this time not from Hinata. The light seemed to come from multiple places, but the brightest of course was Natsu being so close to them. When he light dimmed, she too had a shield on her arm and a bronze band around her head. Instead of a sword, she had a small bow slung across her back and a quiver full of arrows.

“Onii-chan! I’m a real valkyrie like you!” She cried out cheerfully.

Hinata smiled slowly. “Well, looks like I finally did something right.”

“Yeah, you did it so well you went and lost your shield, Dumbass-Hinata.” Kageyama punched him lightly on the arm.

“My shield! My sword!” Hinata howled in embarrassment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gods I am slacking soooooo much I'm sorry ;-; also we're nearing the end...... maybe one or two more chapters, I suppose we'll see! Thanks so much for reading you guys! <3


	24. Now You Can't Call Me "Flightless"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama leaned down just close enough for Hinata to hear his words.
> 
> “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my loves, sorry AGAIN for not posting in forever ;-; This is the last chapter, so at least you won't have to worry about cliffhangers anymore? XD Sorry about those... but seriously, thanks so much for reading, I love you guys!

Kageyama breathed in deeply and looked up at the large pair of doors in front of me.

“This is when you breathe out.” Hinata said with a nudge of his elbow.

He didn’t try for a retort, just slowly let his chest deflate again. “Do you think he’s inside already?”

“This is your family, what do I know?” 

Kageyama supposed that much was true. Just as he worked up the courage to put his hand up to the door, footsteps climbed up the stone steps behind them and they turned to see Oikawa and Iwaizumi coming up to meet them at the front door. 

“Aw, did Tobio-chan decide to wait for us?” Oikawa said calmly. He had his hands in his pockets and he looked down his nose at Kageyama, but he seemed unsure of what to make of his cousin’s hesitation on the doorstep. 

Hinata turned to say something but Kageyama just shrugged. “After you.”

Oikawa pushed his way through the doors, the other three following through the hallway. Iwaizumi was distantly worried that Hinata’s neck was going to detach and roll across the floor he was spinning it around so quickly. The he remembered Kageyama had never brought the valkyrie to his home before so he must have been in quite a shock.

“Do you people have gilded doorknobs too?” He asked, eyeing the frames on either side of them. One one side was a family surrounding Oikawa. His parents were easily identifiable by their similar facial structure and surely that was his older sister. Did that make the other boy his nephew? On the other side of the hall was a similar picture but of Kageyama’s family, smaller but just as serious and just as uncomfortable looking. “You guys take some awful pictures.”

“Shut him up would you.” Oikawa groaned as he forged ahead, nearly leaving Hinata behind. They went all the way to the end of the hall to another set of double doors. Oikawa glanced over his shoulder at Kageyama when he’d laid his hand on the door handle. “You’re sure about this?”

Kageyama nodded once, but his hands seemed anything but steady at his sides. 

Hinata’s mind was reeling for someway to help. “Maybe we could postpone it. I mean, sure they  _ asked  _ to see you, but it’s only been hours since we-”

“I have to. If I don’t now, it will only be worse later.”

“They’re not going to let you stay.” Oikawa said.

“Don’t sound too happy.” Kageyama replied, carefully squeezing Hinata’s hand then letting it fall again.

“I’m not...” His cousin gave him a last glance over and pushed open the doors.

The room they opened up to was large and tall and just as ornate as the rest of the house Hinata had seen so far. A few young vampires were changing back and forth between their bat forms off to one side, a pretty young girl he assumed was Oikawa’s sister was talking quietly to a few others with a baby vampire in her arms, but the person who most caught his eye was directly ahead of him. In a lavish loveseat that looked more like a throne than a couch sat an elderly looking vampire--Hinata figured he had to be at least 300 years old--with his eyes raised to meet his family members at the door.

Oikawa lead them through, followed by Kageyama while Iwaizumi held Hinata a little bit away from them. He knew well enough to act like he wasn’t here, even if he had practically grown up in the backyard of this mansion. They stood back while Oikawa took care of telling how the monster had been defeated. The others had gathered, barely noticing the valkyrie or siren except for the baby who seemed infatuated with the orange curls that sprung from Hinata’s head.

Their grandfather glanced between them both, seemingly unconcerned with why Oikawa had been gone so long or why Kageyama wouldn’t look up from the floor. He just looked to be appraising them, like they were being offered to him rather than his own family standing before him and telling their tale of saving everyone they’d ever known.

Hinata was immediately angry and he could tell by Iwaizumi’s hard set jaw that he was too. How had the siren lasted so long without speaking out or getting angry? He really must have cared for Oikawa...

“You both lost the Little Giant in all of this though, didn’t you?” He asked.

Oikawa’s shoulders fell a little. Iwaizumi compensated by clenching his hands into fists. How odd it was to see The Great King in such a vulnerable state... Hinata silently promised himself to never think Oikawa had it so good again because though he was strong and brave and sometimes really arrogant, his home life was clearly far from perfect. 

“Well, yes-”

“So you got the biggest mission of the year, but you failed?”

“Tooru didn’t fail.” Kageyama finally spoke up. “I messed up.”

All eyes fell on him as he looked up and spoke directly to his grandfather. “If anyone deserves to be named your heir, it should be Tooru.”

“Tobio!” One of the older vampires gasped. He looked shocked and appalled and betrayed and not a single bit of it looked to be worried for his son’s sake. 

Hinata felt his hands turn to fists and Iwaizumi leaned closer to whisper “It only gets worse from here.”

“I messed up in my mission, Oikawa found the Little Giant. He found him and now half of his team is scouring the woods for the valkyrie as we speak. I messed up so bad... that I am renouncing my claim.”

Oikawa, Iwaizumi and Hinata felt their jaws nearly fall open in silent shock. The rest of the room wasn’t so quiet. There was yelling, accusing, cursing, and a fair bit of crying. Iwaizumi held Hinata back from running to his boyfriend’s side with a sharp shake of his head. Oikawa turned to his cousin in disbelief.

Their grandfather eventually got the room back in order, not having broken eye contact with Kageyama since his grandson had uttered those words. “You do not want what could be yours? You do not want what you have been training for? You do not want everything you’ve ever been told you could have?”

“No.” Kageyama replied without hesitating. 

There was a moment of such silence, Hinata froze for fear of shattering the air left in the room. 

“I sense something different. You smell... different.”

Kageyama almost smiled. “I am different. I renounce my claim, grandfather. Will you not make it official?”

“I made that claim, it is not yours to take back!” Said the vampire from before, Kageyama’s father. 

The dark haired boy turned towards him for a moment then beckoned Hinata forward. The valkyrie stepped up beside him slowly and felt Kageyama intertwine their fingers. “What about now?”

There was another sudden outrage which almost included more crying than before, thought maybe it was just the baby’s way of contributing to the family drama. Hinata looked at Kageyama nervously, but he just gripped his hand tighter. What a way to meet your boyfriend’s family.

“We can overlook it!” His father cried.

“You won’t.” Kageyama said, looking at him again, this time for long enough to finish his words. “Now, I would appreciate it if you would stop interrupting me.”

Hinata almost snorted because he was trying to keep his laugh in. Iwaizumi let a smile slip since no one was paying any attention to him and Oikawa’s lips even twitched, apparently amused by his little cousin’s antics. 

“I renounce my claim, for the last time. On the grounds that I am now unfit to take it, and the fact that I think Tooru would be a better leader than I would be. Please, just give him the fucking title already.”

That time, Hinata did snort. He couldn’t help it. The look on everyone’s face was just too priceless. Oikawa’s eyes were bugging out of his head, Iwaizumi had to slap a hand over his mouth, Kageyama’s father turned as red as his eyes, even the baby looked shocked. 

“No vampire has ever-”

“Ah, right. That.” Kageyama interrupted, pulling out the necklace Oikawa had given him and handing it to Hinata. Whatever that was, once he slipped it over his head and it fell into the other’s palm, all of the vampires besides Oikawa bared their fangs and their eyes turned red. “If you still want to give it to me, I suggest you reconsider.” He said, his confidence from before staring to slip away.

Hinata squeezed his hand tightly and felt the band across his forehead return and the weight of a sword in his other hand. Oikawa spread his arms out on either side of himself, blocking Kageyama from the majority of their family. 

“You cannot make him heir now and that means it falls to me and as such I can tell you to all  _ back down _ .” Now was Kageyama’s turn to look at his cousin in surprise. “Chibi-chan, if I tell you to, you take him out of here.” 

“No need.” Their grandfather said, slowly standing. “I will name my successor. Tooru, step up to me.” 

Oikawa let his arms fall back to his sides and stepped closer, kneeling down in front of him. Hinata didn’t see what such a show was for--especially with the mark Oikawa had put in his forehead that looked like an upside down triangle with a dot in the middle--but as Kageyama would tell him later, it made him stronger. Somehow, it was almost like transferring a bit of lifeforce into him. Hinata should have been amazed to be able to see such a thing, but honestly all he wanted right now was to get Kageyama out of there and find his sister. They needed to go home.

Kageyama leaned down just close enough for Hinata to hear his words.

_ “I love you too.” _

  
  


Two weeks later, Kageyama seemed back to normal. The first few days after confronting his family, he was jumpy, worried that any sound meant they were coming to tear him or Hinata to pieces. After that, he stopped worrying during the day but the nightmares lasted at least a week and a half. 

Oikawa wanted to show how thankful he was for Kageyama trying to renounce it before revealing he was a human now. The plan had been that he reveal the secret and Hinata get him out if need be, but no one had predicted Kageyama would actually give it up. 

“You do care about your cousin, don’t you?” Hinata had asked him later that day.

“Of course I do.” Was the response and that was all there was to it. 

In order to show his appreciation, Oikawa had given them a house near the opposite end of town, just outside it actually. It added at least another ten minutes to get to school, but it was a place Hinata and Natsu could stay in as well so it was pretty much perfect. 

After the family had tried to convince each other that they could overlook Hinata for Kageyama to take the family title, Oikawa started dropping hints. Iwaizumi would be around more and Oikawa would ask his opinion on certain issues. Everyone was against it, obviously, but there wasn’t much they could do about it now. That girl vampire had mysteriously never responded to their grandfather’s letter asking her to come quickly in order to solidify their marriage, nor any following letters sent by other members of the family either. It was all very mysterious.

During this time, the Little Giant had been found, sitting at the base of Kuroo’s tree. Kenma found him and the poor creature had long since gone mad from his time in the human tower. With help, they hoped he would get better, but there was enough to deal with that his return was hardly as much of a spectacle as his disappearance. Hinata checked on him regularly--of course--but even he had his fair share of work to do in settling the town back to normal. 

Yachi had read nearly every one of them the riot act upon finding them after their battle, even Iwaizumi and Oikawa. She was in tears, screaming about how worried she was and as soon as she spotted Kiyoko, she just broke down, nearly making a new river for her girlfriend to live in. Kiyoko held her tightly and kissed her golden hair, mumbling that she missed her so much while beckoning the boys to run while they could. 

The city would eventually recover. There was no going back to normal now that they were aware the humans harbored insane aggression towards them or since they had been saved by a handful of ragtag creatures who hadn’t even graduated yet, but they could recover. Time could heal all things, even the scorch marks that could still be seen in certain parts of town.

The first and last time Hinata went to his parent’s grave, he’d gone alone. He looked down at the headstone, aware that they weren’t really buried underneath it. The valkyrie lair on of his black feathers across the grave while retelling his tale. He didn’t have cursed flight, he had the warrior power valkyries had lost. He had an amazing, human boyfriend who was practically a child again with how he had to relearn everything. He had his beautiful little sister who could brighten his day with her smile. He found his childhood idol and had gone on the most important journey of their age. All without them. He felt a little guilty about adding that last part, but it was true. As he stood, looking at the matching dates on their stones, he remembered how he had felt the day they had died. But as he flew away, all he could think about was moving forward. 

That’s all there was for a Flightless Valkyrie after all, learning how to work past the impossible.


End file.
